DiGata Destroyer
by Runty Grunty
Summary: -DISCONTINUED- -Di-Gata Defenders- This follows the tale of the superguardian Crea, a creation of Nazmul and a reincarnation of an ancient goddess of death. In her wake is a trail of devastation as she tries to find her place in Rados. Chapter 8 is up.
1. Visions of the Past

I just moved this fanfic out of the actual Di-Gata Defenders website due to a severe lack of moderator activity and lack of updates to existing fanfics on the site. That, coupled with additional freedom of writing, prompted me to move this fanfic over to the site. I already have plenty of chapters for this fanfic written, but I am going to be taking time to rewrite them to my liking. In any case, I sincerely hope you will enjoy this.

**CHAPTER 1: VISIONS OF THE PAST**

_Dako…_

At first all that could be seen was darkness, but soon the surroundings slowly began to come into focus.

_Ogama…_

Although, the surroundings were far less pleasant than the darkness was. All around, there were ruins of great structures and architecture. Out of an arch, there was a clearing to a ruined plain.

_Sum…_

Outside of the arch, all around, there was shouting and clamor, but there was so much of it that it was impossible to tell what anyone was saying or doing. But the idea of the sound was unmistakable: there was a battle going on. A mighty battle.

_Nega…_

A series of energy blasts flew through the air, flying in all directions. The sources were indistinct, but there were a lot of them. And it seemed as though there were two sides in the battle.

_Yan…_

On one side, a large man barreled through a number of smaller men with ease, roaring like a barbarian, and taking energy blasts like they were small insects. Nearby, another man dressed in a long cape flung a series of flames at a pair of men, blowing them away. The man laughed as he did this.

_Yin…_

All the sudden, a mighty roar bellowed through the area, of some horrible creature whose origin one could not fathom. Off in the distance, a large shadow was coming over the horizon. All of the men in the area looked upon the shadow.

_Altas…_

The shadow began to come into focus. It was a huge monster, like something out of a nightmare. Its two massive claws raked the land, and its many tendrils seemed to lurk around for unfortunate prey. On its back were eight stone slabs, each with a Sigil on them, and its tail was shaped like a spiked club. But what were most disturbing were its many glowing green eyes. The creature roared tremendously as it looked on at a large outcropping.

_Infinis…_

Beneath the creature, a man in an elegant, yet dark robe appeared. He pointed towards the outcropping as he spoke.

"Go, Megalith!" the man bellowed. "Slaughter those fools in my name."

The creature seemed to obey the man's command, and began to stride towards the outcropping, the man watching with a hint of glee on his face.

"They think they can stop me," the man said. "But they do not realize the vastness of my power. Rados is now mine to rule, and mine to rule alone."

At the outcropping, a number of elder men were working with a strange contraption, joined by four unusual individuals. One man was in a black outfit, the other in a battle uniform with a series of electronic tools. One of the women was dressed in a strange green garb, and the other was a dark-skinned woman in blue robes. Each one, however, had a unique Henge adorning each of them, a combination of the Ogama and Nega Sigils. They were arrayed in a small circle at the front of the contraption, their backs to each other. One of the elder men approached them.

"Please, Aaron," the elder said to the man in black, "there must be another way. We cannot afford to lose the four of you. The Realm needs the Di-Gata Defenders too greatly for this sacrifice."

"I wish there were another way," said the man called Aaron, "but it must be done. It is our only choice." Aaron placed a hand on the elder's shoulder and said "Please look after our children, Alnar. They are the future now."

Alnar nodded, almost as though regretful of something. He turned to the other elders and said, "Begin the Spell of Binding."

As the men began to start up the contraption, the sky above began to turn dark with storm clouds. Electricity crackled through the air, as though they were an ominous foretelling. As the contraption began to work its magic, the creature rose above the site, looming ominously above it. Below it, the four individuals stood in their circle, as though in a trance. The creature raised one of its massive arms to strike.

At that moment, the man Alnar turned to the other elders and shouted, "Now!"

As he did, the machine began to shine a great golden light, and a pillar of energy shot up, striking the beast in its center. The creature howled as the pillar struck it.

Below, the dark robed man looked on in horror. "Impossible!" he growled. "Alnar wouldn't—"

The light began to reach a critical mass below the beast. As it did, a great explosion of light came from the pillar, sweeping across the battlefield below. Men below on both sides ducked for cover, though some were engulfed by the light and were destroyed by it. On the cliff, the light struck the dark robed man and he cried out in agony, as his body seemed to crumble. The wave of light continued past the man, and began to engulf everything. Everything went white. Then, out of the white light, there appeared four white stones, each with a symbol on all their sides. The stones swirled around for a moment, before scattering.

--

Within a set of trees and vines, Crea slightly gasped as she awoke from the dream. Crea was an unusual being in appearance. Her long hair was dark blue, and her skin was white as snow. Her eyes were a shade of lavender, with the pupils being white instead of the usual black. She looked no older than fourteen years old, but yet something about her suggested she may have been older. She was beautiful, but in a sort of haunting way. She wore an elegant violet silk dress, bare at the shoulders, along with a billowing red cloak, and leather bracers around her wrists. She also wore gold-trimmed shoes and her forehead had a ruby gemstone embedded in the middle.

Crea looked around her. There was nothing but jungle trees, swamp marshes and rocks, the rocks with Sigils on them. After a moment of looking, she raised a hand and looked at it. Within her palm, a small crackle of electricity or energy pulsed, and she winced as it passed. Crea had always been a strange being, much unlike a human, though even she wasn't sure what she was. What she was sure of, though, was that she wasn't human. After all, humans could use Sigil stones to cast powerful magic. Crea could not even cause a reaction from the stones, and she had tried it. But still, she had ways of getting by.

Crea sighed as she got to her feet and looked at a large rock on the ground that had various Sigils on it. She walked up to it and placed a hand to it. As she touched it, her hand began to glow a golden aura, and from the stone, what looked like streams of white light began converging on her hand and entering her arm. She stood there for a moment, absorbing the energies from the stone, and as she did, the Sigils began to fade from the stone.

"What does it mean?" Crea said to herself. Her voice was slightly deep, but suited her appearance. "The light… the Megalith… the white stones… What do they all mean?"

As she finished this musing, Crea's hand stopped glowing, and so did the stone's. However, the stone had completely lost its color, and the Sigils were gone. She removed her hand and the stone crumbled into dust. After a moment, the wind picked up and the remains of the stone began to blow away.

"Why must I continually seek something, when I don't even know what I'm looking for?" Crea continued. "Why must I continually be tormented by these dreams? And this weakness?" As the last of the stone's remains disappeared, she lowered her hand and sighed.

Suddenly, the snap of a twig caught Crea's attention. Though it came as a surprise to her, she wasn't scared of it. She looked into the woods, but saw nothing at first. Then, out of a nearby brush, a sinister-looking man emerged with a set of spell stones in his hand. He cackled menacingly as he advanced toward Crea. She wasn't concerned, though.

"Well, well, well," the man said, "this must be my lucky day. I'll bet whoever you're parents are will give a lot of money to see you returned. That is, so long as you're not hurt, heh heh heh."

Crea merely stared at the man as he fiddled around with the stones in his hand, but was not concerned. He was no threat to her.

"I hate to disappoint you, but such a reward does not await you." Crea said coldly. "If you leave now, I might just spare your life."

The man obviously did not take this insult well, as he promptly cast his stones at Crea. _Restrictor!_ The energies of two Nega Sigils combined together, sending a series of binding threads at Crea, threatening to immobilize her. Crea did not move. As the threads neared her, they suddenly stuck a glowing white dome that was surrounding Crea. She had created a barrier without even moving. The threads disintegrated on contact with it, much to the man's surprise.

"What the?" he gasped. "How did you—"

He stopped speaking for good reason. Crea's eyes had begun to glow an eerie golden glow. She raised a hand and an orb of energies appeared in her palm. Her arm was crackling with power.

As the man stood astonished by what he was seeing, Crea uttered a single word: "_Die_."

The glowing orb surged forward in a powerful beam at the man, devastating everything in its path and everything around it. The man screamed as it approached him.

--

Elsewhere, Seth and Kara were walking through the bog of the Ban Yo swamp. Kara had just had a near-death encounter from Saviped Spider poison, and since she had only received the antidote recently, her movements were a little shaky. As she made her way through the bog, she unexpectedly stepped on a large tree root and lost her balance.

"WHOA!" Kara shrieked as she fell, but a pair of arms quickly moved to catch her. She looked up to see Seth's face.

"You need to be more careful," Seth said.

"I'm fine," Kara said, scoffing slightly as Seth brought her to her feet. "I'm just feeling a little… uh, tipsy."

"Kara, you need to rest. Even though you've had the antidote—"

"Seth, do you know HOW many times those spiders bit me? I'm going to be sore for weeks!"

Seth laughed at this. "Good point, Kara."

Kara didn't laugh, though, but sighed condescendingly. "I'm fine, Seth. Really. But we need to keep moving if we wanna find Mel and Erik."

"I know you're worried about your brother, Kara, but you're starting to make me worry about you. You're still sick, and you need rest. It'll be no help to Erik if you're too hurt to help him."

Just as Seth finished, a large explosion sounded off in the distance. The blast shook the ground beneath them, causing both to trip and fall to the ground, Kara landing on top of Seth. After the tremor passed, both of them got to their feet.

"What was THAT?" Kara exclaimed.

Seth did not answer her question, but started running toward the source of the blast. "Come on!" he shouted back to Kara.

"Seth, wait!" Kara shouted, though Seth did not stop. She groaned angrily before running after him, her power boots allowing her to catch up quickly.

--

The two Defenders soon reached an area of trees that had a large scorching line running through them. There was no one in sight, aside from the two Defenders. Obviously, the two were surprised by the destruction caused.

"Whoa," Seth gasped, "talk about a nasty hit. What do you think did this?"

"Beats me," Kara answered. "Maybe a Rock Serpent?"

"There are no Rock Serpents living in the Ban Yo Swamp, Kara."

"Then what do you think it was, genius?"

"Hey, you can call your brother that." Seth retorted. Kara almost immediately started laughing at Seth. "Hey, what's so funny?" Seth demanded of Kara.

"Tee hee, you don't want me to call you a genius?"

It didn't take long for Kara's meaning to sink in. "Oh, ha ha, very funny." Seth said dryly.

As Kara continued laughing at Seth's predicament, he bent over to look at the destruction. On the sides, Crea stepped out from behind a tree and looked at the two. She could not figure it out, but she felt there was something special about the two children. Her mind flashed back to the dream, and to the four individuals calling themselves the Di-Gata Defenders.

"They have the same markings as the ones from my dreams." Crea said to herself quietly. "They are Di-Gata Defenders as well. Yet, they seem familiar to the ones from my dreams. Are they the children of whom Aaron spoke?"

As she looked on at Seth and Kara (who had stopped laughing), Kara suddenly seemed alerted to Crea's presence and looked in her direction. Their eyes met for a moment.

"Huh?" was Kara's response. She took her eyes off Crea to tug on Seth's sleeve. "Seth, look."

"Huh, what?" Seth looked at where Crea was, but she was no longer there. "What is it, Kara?"

"I- I thought I saw someone."

"Hmm. Maybe you just thought you saw someone."

"Yeah. Maybe."

"Come on. We need to find Erik and Mel."

Kara nodded, and the two were on their way. As they left, Crea reappeared from behind a nearby tree and watched them leave. After staring for a moment, she turned and seemed to vanish into thin air. Seth and Kara ran off through the jungle, not noticing a cracked spell stone in the ground as they passed.

**END OF CHAPTER 1**

Stick around for more.


	2. Questions without Answers

The second chapter of my fanfic has now been modified for this website, so here it is.

**CHAPTER 2: QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWER**

The nighttime sky glittered with the stars above, and two of Rados' moons shone down on the Realm. Down in a grassy glade, Crea was lying on her back, looking up at the moons. Nothing could be heard but the sound of the wind. She raised a hand to block one of the moons from shining down into her eyes and sighed.

Crea had been thinking a lot recently about the dreams she was constantly having. They weren't getting any clearer in meaning to her, but she knew they had to have some significance in her existence. The Megalith, the Di-Gata Defenders, the four white stones; all of them had something to do with who she was, but she didn't know what. How was she connected to them? Did they have anything to do with her powers? Why was she dreaming about them every night? These questions and more continued to spill into Crea's mind, but she found no answers to any of them.

She then asked herself aloud the big questions: "Why? Why am I here? What is my purpose?"

--

The next morning, in the nearby woods, Seth and the other Di-Gata Defenders were in the middle of packing up their camp, keen to move on. They had just lost the Ogama Pure Stone to Brackus, but in the process obtained the Key. But what was concerning Seth was the possibility that the Order of Infinis may be trailing them, and that they might not be far away.

He turned toward Erik, who was tuning the Sigil Cycles, and said, "Erik, I want to get moving as soon as possible. How are the bikes?"

"Everything's great, Seth. All of the bikes are working at full capacity. They just need a little more time to charge, and we'll be good to go."

"How long will that take?"

"About thirty more minutes, tops."

"Good."

Seth turned his head and looked toward Melosa, who was in the middle of packing up her bag. While she was doing this, though, she pulled out a small canister. Seth knew well what it was: it was the container of the Dako Pure Stone. It was also a worry to Seth; every time he saw Mel holding that canister it made him fear that something may happen to her. Something bad. The first time Mel even touched the Pure Stone, the Megalith possessed her. She had still not fully recovered from it, as well.

As Seth continued to think to himself about that, suddenly Mel's arm started to crackle with a strange blue energy. She gasped from the pain of it and dropped the canister, clutching her sides. Seth quickly ran over to her side.

"Mel, are you okay? Mel?!"

The Wizard energies soon subsided, which stopped Mel's pain. Amid heavy breathing, she said, "I'm okay, Seth."

"These attacks have got to stop," Seth said with a sigh.

"I know. I… I just wish I knew what was happening to me. How I could stop these attacks. I just… feel so helpless right now."

"You're not helpless, Mel. You battle as well as any one of us. That and you deal with the burden of your Wizard powers so well. I'd hardly call that helpless."

Mel smiled, comforted by Seth's words.

Erik suddenly interrupted them, "Speaking of the four of us, where's Kara?"

"She decided to go look around for a bit," said Seth. "She said she'd be back in a few minutes."

"That's good. We've got a lot of ground to cover today, especially if the Order of Infinis is following us."

--

Elsewhere in the forest, Kara walked into a small clearing. She looked around for a moment, when the sight of a small rabbit-like creature caught her attention.

"Aw, how cute!" Kara sighed.

Kara obviously frightened the rabbit, as it turned tail and starting running away. Kara quickly began pursuit.

"Hey, wait! Come back! I'm not going to hurt you."

Kara followed the rabbit through a set of bushes, but then suddenly stopped.

"Huh?"

Kara's mind had completely forgotten the rabbit at this point; what she was seeing now was much more curious. About five meters in front of her was Crea, her hand glowing up against a thick tree that was covered in Sigils. After a moment, Kara then remembered Crea from the Ban Yo swamp. She slowly stepped toward the strange girl.

"Hey, it's you," Kara said, "from the swamp. So… I wasn't imagining it when I saw you."

Crea said nothing in reply, not moving from her stance.

"So, what are you doing with that tree?"

Again, Crea said nothing.

"Okay," Kara said slowly, "not the talkative type, are you?"

At that moment, Crea's hand stopped glowing, and she removed it from the tree. The Sigils on the tree then faded away, and its leaves and branches began to fall to the ground. Kara could scarcely believe what she was seeing. It was almost as though the girl had sucked the life out of the tree.

"Wha- what did you just do?" Kara said nervously.

"Only a necessity for my survival," Crea said. "That tree's energies now flow through me, to be used for my survival." She then turned toward the young Defender and said, "You are Kara, yes?" Kara nodded. "I thought as much. You are one of the Di-Gata Defenders. Your comrades are Seth, Mel, and Erik, correct?"

"Yeah. Well, Erik is actually my big brother."

"I see."

"So… what's your name?"

"Hmm? My name? It's… Crea."

"Crea, huh? That's a nice name."

"Hmph."

"So, why were you doing that to that tree? Look at it. It's dying."

"Such a thing does not concern me. I was merely using the energies within the tree to sustain my own life."

"But why? Why would you do that?"

Crea sighed, and then said, "That, even I am not entirely certain of the answer. I only know that it is necessary."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You would not understand."

Kara stood there for a moment, staring at Crea.

Suddenly, Erik's voice sounded off in the distance, calling "Kara! Kara, where are you?!"

As Kara looked off in the direction of Erik's voice, Crea turned in the opposite direction and said, "Return to your friends, Kara. There is nothing more for us to discuss."

As Crea started to walk away, Kara turned back to her and said, "Huh? Hey, wait!"

Kara tried to stop Crea from leaving, but as she stepped toward the girl, several strange glittering blue lights began to surround Crea. They massed around Crea, and Kara had to shield her eyes from the light. When Kara opened her eyes, Crea was gone, with nothing more than a few blue lights left over.

"Whoa," Kara uttered, "that was weird."

"Kara!" Erik then emerged from the trees behind her and said, "There you are. We've been waiting for you back at camp for a while now. What are you doing? We gotta go."

"Huh? Oh, Erik. Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

"About what?"

"Nevermind, let's go."

Erik stared at his little sister in utter confusion as she walked off into the woods. He then followed her after a few seconds.

--

High up above a set of roads, the scientist Flinch watched on as Malco, his juggernaut partner, moved several large boulders to the edge of the nearby cliff-top, aided by a couple of Order of Infinis lackeys. The boulders lay positioned above a relatively small road, where there was little place to run. As Malco placed the last of the boulders at the cliff's head, Flinch walked over to them and started placing small charges beneath them. After he placed the last one, he tapped several buttons on his gauntlet, and on each of the charges, a light started blinking, and each charge starting beeping.

Flinch chuckled to himself and said, "Excellent. Everything is ready. Those bratty kids won't know what hit them."

Something then caught his attention. He walked up to the nearby cliff and pulled out a set of binoculars, and peered down the road. Sure enough, he saw four bikes coming up the road. It was surely the Defenders.

"Well, talk about good timing," Flinch said. He then turned to the Infinis soldiers and said, "The Defenders are on their way. You know what to do. Move out!"

The soldiers all nodded and took off to a set of Sigil Bikes parked nearby. As they mounted up and sped off, Flinch looked back at the road, watching the Defenders as they approached the ambush site.

He then said, "I'm such a genius. They'll never escape! This plan of mine is brilliant."

Obviously, this gloating didn't sit well with Malco, who quickly grabbed his weaker partner's shoulder sharply and growled.

Flinch quickly realized his mistake, and said to Malco, "Oh, I mean our plan, of course. I couldn't have done it without you, Malco. After all, you're the brawn of the operation."

Malco grunted once, and released Flinch's shoulder. Flinch took a short step away from his partner and sneered at him. The two never liked working with each other, but despite their differences, it could not be denied that they were dangerous together. Flinch placed his hand to his gauntlet, his finger hovering over a flashing red button.

--

Down below on the road, the Defenders continued to speed down the road, Seth in the front. Behind him, Kara was not entirely focused on the road. Her mind was concentrating on her earlier encounter with Crea. She still could not understand the girl. Who or what was she? Whatever she was, it made Kara feel uneasy. After a moment, Kara increased her speed, and moved her bike up beside Seth's. Seth looked on as Kara moved up beside him.

As she did, she called out, "Seth?"

"Yeah?" Seth replied.

"There's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it Kara?"

"Well, I—"

Before Kara could continue, however, a blast whizzed by them, startling the Defenders. They turned to see a number of Infinis riders pursuing them.

"We've got company!" Erik yelled.

"Try to outrun them!" Seth shouted, as he hit the accelerator.

The Defenders increased their speed, but as they did, so did the Infinis soldiers. The soldiers continued to fire on the Defenders, though at such a speed, their accuracy was something to be desired. The Defenders quickly made it to the road by the cliffs.

Erik looked back for a moment, and noticed the Infinis soldiers were far behind them. He shouted gleefully, "HA! Slowpokes! They'll never catch us now!"

He was cut off when an explosion went off above. The Defenders looked up to see hundreds of rocks barreling down on them.

"AVALANCHE!" Seth shouted. "Look out!"

The Defenders did their best to avoid the boulders, but the road was narrow, and there wasn't much room to maneuver. Kara had it worst off; her bike was too close to the cliff. A boulder landed in front of her, too close for her to dodge it. She shrieked as her bike slammed headlong into it, sending her flying over the handlebars. She landed in a heap at the bottom of the cliff wall.

"KARA!!" Seth cried out, fearful for her safety.

He then saw a boulder flying from above straight for his head. He swerved away from it, but did not account for a nearby set of trees. He yelled as he ducked, a large branch barely missing his head. The remaining three Defenders sped into the forest, dodging the trees for dear life. Mel got separated from Seth and Erik by a cluster of small trees. Shortly behind them, the Infinis soldiers sped in after them.

Behind Melosa, two riders began to open fire on her. One shot barely missed her. She looked back at them and cast a spell. _Snow Blast!_ The ice ball flew at one of the riders and hit him in the head, blinding him with snow. His cycle flew out of control and smashed into a nearby tree, the rider falling out before impacting.

Mel then said, "Ooh… that had to hurt." She sped onwards as the second rider continued firing.

Elsewhere, five riders, their staves firing inaccurate shots at the two Defenders, were chasing Seth and Erik. Erik readied his tech gauntlet and aimed it at the soldiers. _Singeing Spar!_ A firebolt flew at the soldiers, hitting one of the bikes, and causing it to burst into flames. The soldier screamed as he abandoned his bike, which shortly afterwards exploded. One of the riders behind him ran into the explosion, which blinded him, and as he came out of it he hit a tree branch. The soldier crashed to the ground, while his bike hit a tree and exploded.

Erik then turned back to Seth and shouted, "Seth! Go back to the road and find Kara! I'll take care of these clowns!" Seth hesitated, but Erik said, "Go! I'll be fine! We'll meet back down the road!"

"Alright," Seth shouted back. "Be careful."

"You know it!"

Seth then banked away from Erik. One of the Infinis soldiers then turned to chase Seth, while the other two went after Erik. Seth sped on while the lone rider chased him. A blast nearly hit Seth's shoulder.

Seth looked back and said, "I really don't need this right now."

At that moment, Seth heard the sound of a drake's cry, and looked to see Melosa's guardian, Draykor, swoop in on his pursuer. The ice drake latched its claws onto the rider and lifted him screaming off the bike. The bike crashed, while Draykor released the rider, causing him to hit a particularly thick tree stump. The man fell to the ground unconscious.

Seth swerved to a stop as Mel's bike approached him. She stopped as well.

"Nice save, Mel." Seth said.

"No problem."

"Erik's got two guys on his tail that way," Seth said as he pointed into the forest. "Go help him."

"What about you?"

"I'm going back for Kara."

"Okay. Be careful."

"You too."

Mel sped off into the woods, Draykor in tow, as Seth turned his bike and sped off to rescue Kara.

--

Back on the road, Kara lay on her side, dazed from the crash. She opened her eyes slowly, but could not see straight. She slowly pushed herself up, sore all over, her whole body shaking with pain. As she got to her feet, she pulled off her helmet, which was cracked, and dropped it to the ground. Her head then began throbbing with pain, and she clutched a hand to her forehead.

"Uhh… My head…" Kara said weakly.

As Kara held her head, her Power Boots began to crackle and spark violently. They were badly damaged by the crash. Soon, their lights gave out. Kara, unable to walk without them, lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"Oh, great," Kara groaned. She pushed herself up against the cliff wall, but had to remain seated since her legs would not work now. She cried out, "Erik… Mel… Seth… Please, help…"

At that moment, a shadow began marching toward her. She couldn't tell who it was; her vision was completely blurred.

"Uhh… Erik?"

The figure came into focus as it approached, but it wasn't Erik. Kara could only look on in horror as the vast form of Malco walked steadily toward her.

Flinch quickly walked in from behind Malco and said, "Not quite."

Malco laughed as he extended a hand toward Kara. As he did, Kara screamed as loud as her lungs could allow.

Back in the forest, Seth heard the sound of the scream.

"No! Kara!"

Seth gunned on the accelerator and sped through the woods. As he reached the edge, he saw Malco and Flinch on the road, with Kara barely struggling in Malco's gigantic hand. Seth, enraged at seeing his friend in the hands of the juggernaut, pushed his bike to full speed and it careened right at Malco. Malco quickly reacted by thrusting his free hand forward, and caught the bike as it hit him. Malco skidded back a few feet, but stayed standing. Seth then realized he was in trouble. Malco heaved and tossed the bike aside, Seth with it. Seth fell off the bike as it crashed to the ground. Seth was not badly hurt, but he wasn't worried about that. He was worried about Kara. He threw off his helmet and faced Malco.

"Let her go," Seth said angrily.

Flinch laughed in his throat before saying, "Sorry, Defender, but the only place she's going is with us." He then shouted to Malco, "Malco! Crush him!"

Malco roared as he charged at Seth. Seth wasted no time, and cast his stones. _Dark Anarchy!_ A dark wave of energy flew right at Malco, who raised his free arm in front of him. Malco roared as the spell impacted on his natural shield. The spell did some damage, but Malco still had plenty left. The giant quickly fitted a pair of stones into his free hand and cast them. _Meteor!_ A large flaming stone flew at Seth, who quickly ran to the side. The meteor began to chase the Defender, however. Malco cackled as it did.

Seth took a quick look back at the meteor close behind him, and looked forward at the set of boulders in front of him. Seth ran fast at the boulders and began zigzagging through them. The meteor did not, however, and crashed through rock after rock, weakening with each impact. Soon, Seth ran behind the last nearby boulder, and the meteor, which was now much smaller, smashed into it and exploded. As the debris cleared, Seth looked on at his enemies. He had to get Kara away from Malco.

Seth pulled out his guardian stone. _Kragus, take form!_ The earth shook as Seth's guardian took its massive form. The stone giant let out a tremendous roar.

"Kragus, rush 'em!" Seth shouted.

Kragus roared as he charged headlong at Malco. The two met in a gridlock, though Malco was at a disadvantage, having only one hand with which to hold back the guardian. Eventually, Kragus began to overpower Malco. Malco roared, and tossed Kara back toward Flinch.

"Malco, what are you— AHH!" Flinch shouted, as Kara impacted on the scientist.

Malco, now with both his hands free, continued to wrestle with Kragus, and began to turn the struggle in his favor. Behind him, Flinch wasted no time in wrestling his arm around Kara's neck to restrain her. Kara was too weak to do anything about it.

Soon, Malco began to push Kragus back. Seth knew he had to do something quick. After all, now he could attack Malco without risking Kara. He pulled out another set of stones.

"Spinning— AGH!"

A bolt of energy had struck Seth in the back, causing him to drop his stones. He fell to the ground.

"Seth!" Kara cried weakly, while Flinch laughed.

Down the road, ten Infinis riders sped toward the battle scene. Malco roared as he then shifted hard forward, and brought the massive form of Kragus above his shoulders. He then threw the guardian to the ground on its back, and in a quick movement, brought his two massive fists down on Kragus' chest. Almost instantly, Kragus vanished, returning to his stone form.

As the soldiers arrived, they dismounted from their bikes. Seven of them ran over to Seth, who was trying to push himself up, while the others ran over toward Malco and Flinch. One of the men around Seth brought the rear end of his staff down on him, knocking the Defender back down.

Flinch laughed at the abuse Seth was taking, and said, "Excellent. Excellent!" He then turned to the soldier closest to him and said, "You! Watch her." Flinch pushed Kara toward the soldier; she nearly fell to the ground, but the soldier caught her and hoisted her limp body onto his shoulder.

One of the soldiers surrounding Seth then turned toward Flinch and Malco and said, "What about this one?"

"Get rid of him," Flinch said grimly. "Lord Nazmul only needs one of them."

The soldiers aimed their staves at Seth, who once again was trying to get to his feet.

"Nazmul…?" said a young girl's voice.

The Infinis agents looked around them for the source of the voice. Soon, Flinch found it. Sitting cross-legged on a nearby boulder was Crea, looking down on the Infinis agents and the Defenders. Seth also looked up at the strange girl. He didn't know who she was, but something about her made Seth uneasy.

"Who is this Nazmul?" Crea continued. "His name seems so familiar to me…"

"And who are you, child?" Flinch barked. "A friend of the Defenders, I'll bet."

"The Defenders are no friends of mine. I hold allegiances to no one, little man."

"What did you just call me, you insolent little brat?!" Flinch shouted angrily.

Crea laughed softly, and then said, "That is what you are. But then again, all of you humans seem so very alike." Crea uncrossed her legs and took a deep stare at Flinch. She then cooed softly, "Such weaklings…"

Flinch growled furiously then shouted, "You won't live to regret those words, child! Shoot her!"

The soldiers around Seth quickly turned their staves at Crea and fired a volley of energy blasts at her. Crea smirked as she quickly sprung off of the boulder and landed neatly on the road, the blasts missing her entirely. She then turned toward the Infinis group.

Crea made a condescending sigh before saying, "Wow, that was smart. Now you've got my attention. Ah well, might as well have some fun."

Crea raised a hand toward the Infinis group and gestured them to try and attack her. Malco took this challenge very seriously and roared as he cast a spell at her. _Shield Breaker!_ A series of jagged knife-like rocks flew at Crea. She did not move, but laughed briefly. As the spell flew at her, a glowing energy dome appeared around Crea. The spell struck the barrier, but per their function they did not explode, instead sticking themselves into the barrier. The breakers then started flashing quickly; as the flashes became rapid, they exploded. The blast seemed to envelop Crea and created a massive cloud of dust and smoke. When the dust finally cleared, Crea was no longer there.

Flinch grinned and then said, "So much for that pest. I—" Flinch stopped when he noticed Malco reaching a hand at him and quickly said, "I mean, you showed her, Malco. Yes, excellent shot."

Just then, the distorted sound of Crea laughing echoed through the area. Flinch practically jumped on the spot then quickly looked around the area, as did the other Infinis solders and Seth. Crea was nowhere in sight, but her laughter continued. Seth, still on all fours, looked at the soldier holding Kara. Seth wanted to do something to save her, but in his predicament he was left with few options.

Suddenly, Seth noticed number of flickering blue lights converging on a spot near Malco, by the side of the cliff wall. One of the Infinis soldiers noticed Seth, and turned to see the shimmering lights.

"Over there!" the man shouted.

The others turned to see the lights combining together. In a short flash of light, Crea reappeared, seemingly materializing out of thin air. She was completely untouched by Malco's last attack.

"Was that supposed to be threatening?" Crea taunted with a smile.

Malco roared furiously at this insult and charged headlong at Crea. As he did, he raised one of his giant fists, poised to crush the girl. He then swung hard at her, but Crea hopped back a short distance and the blow missed her. Malco took another swing at her with his other arm, but she seemed to slide sideways, without moving her feet. Malco missed again. Malco continued to swing at Crea, each time missing, while Seth and the Infinis group watched in amazement.

Seth could scarcely believe his eyes. Malco was a truly dangerous opponent to him and the other Defenders, but this girl was handling him like he was nothing.

Malco, now truly infuriated with Crea, thrust a fist at her, but she slid to the side and the blow struck the cliff wall behind her. She then smirked at Malco and readied a hand at her side. It quickly began to spark with magical energy, which enveloped her whole hand. She then lunged forward with her palm at Malco's chest. As it hit, Crea's hand released a powerful energy burst. Malco flew back, his natural shield preventing the blast from destroying him, and crashed to the ground several meters away from where Crea was standing. Malco groaned in pain as he lay on his back.

Flinch gaped at the scene for a moment, but soon stopped hesitating and looked on at his men. They were all staring in awe at what had just happened.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE, YOU FOOLS!" Flinch shouted. "BLAST HER!"

The soldiers stopped staring and quickly aimed at Crea and fired. She leapt to the side, the blasts missing her. The soldiers turned to fire at her new position. As they did, she pushed off in the opposite direction and then began to float a few inches above the ground, moving sideways all the while. As she glided to the side, the energy blasts from the Infinis soldiers missing her, she raised a hand, palm facing down, and swept it to one side. As she did, several small energy pulses appeared and flew at the Infinis group. Two of the soldiers took the attack and were killed instantly. The other men took cover behind their bikes, but some of the vehicles exploded as Crea's attack hit them. A couple of blasts nearly hit Seth, but he ducked under them just in time. Seth looked up at the girl as she continued her attack; it occurred to him that she wasn't concerned for his safety. To her, he was probably just an obstacle.

All five of the remaining Infinis soldiers got onto the remaining bikes and sped off to attack Crea. She continued to float around, dodging the blasts. She fired a blast at one of them and hit the bike's engine. The bike exploded just as its rider attempted to jump off.

Another rider fired at Crea, but missed. She then put her middle and index fingers together on one hand and moved her hand upwards. As she did, a glowing yellow thread began to extend from her hand. As it did, she began to wave her hand, causing the thread to move. One of the bikers came at her, his staff facing forward like a lance. Crea moved to the side and swung the thread like a whip at the man's bike. He passed by; at first, it seemed like there was no damage, but then the front section of the bike broke off, sliced in two, and the rider crashed. Crea's hand withdrew the thread and she turned to look at the other remaining riders. She scoffed at them then jetted towards them, her hand glowing.

Back on the ground, Seth looked up and saw the three soldiers holding Kara prisoner; he had to save her. Thankfully, he still had a good amount of energy in his Di-Gata Stones. He quickly got to his feet and sprinted toward the men. They obviously noticed him, for the two guarding Kara's captor turned their staves at Seth. He quickly cast a spell. _Twisting Chaos!_ Two dark spirals flew at the men and struck them, wrapping their bodies in chaotic energy. After a moment, they left the men, who fell to the ground, and returned to Seth, where they merged with his body. Out of his back, four black tendrils sprouted, and Seth's eyes began to glow. Seth raised a hand to the last man and one of the tendrils flew forward, wrapping around the man's neck.

Seth looked right at the man and said, "Don't be stupid. Let her go."

The man hesitated for a moment, but obeyed and put Kara down gently. As he did, the tendrils lifted him into the air. After a moment, Seth waved a hand to the side and the tendrils tossed the soldier aside. Seth then knelt over beside Kara and wrapped his arms around her.

"Kara? Kara?! Are you alright?" Seth cried. Kara said nothing, but moaned in pain. "We've gotta get out of here."

"Not so fast, Defender," came Flinch's voice behind Seth. The scientist was behind Seth, his stones in his hand. He then laughed and said, "Two birds, one stone!"

Flinch raised his hand to attack Seth, but as he did, Mel's voice sounded from the side. _Blizzard!_ Flinch looked and screamed as a flurry of ice struck him, freezing him in place. Seth looked to the side to see Mel and Erik riding toward them.

"Thanks for the save." Seth said to Melosa.

Erik quickly dismounted his bike and ran toward Seth. "Kara! KARA! Is she alright?!" Erik said in a scared tone.

"I dunno. I hope so." Seth replied.

"Uh, guys?" Mel said nervously. "Who is THAT?"

Seth and Erik turned to see Crea dodging Malco, who was once again swinging at her. All the Infinis riders had been taken out, and Crea was still effortlessly dodging the blows, while Malco continued to become enraged with her. Malco then roared furiously and raised both his hands above him to crush Crea. She did not move this time, but stood still. The Defenders looked on as her arms then began to glow with several streams running up them. As Malco swung his massive hands down at Crea, she raised her arms and caught the blow. The ground around her cracked, but she stood strong.

"Whoa…" Seth said in astonishment.

"How did she do that?" Mel gasped.

Malco was also surprised at this, but recovered and attempted to push down his arms on Crea. Crea held the giant back, but it was taking a large effort. Malco was a strong opponent, and Crea knew she couldn't just hold him forever.

Crea smirked and said amidst grunts, "I have to admit, you're quite a strong opponent. But you're still…"

Before she finished, a surge of energy flowed through Crea's body, causing it to shine a bright light. She suddenly thrust her hands up and sent Malco stumbling backwards. She then jumped at Malco and delivered a solid spin kick to his head. He stumbled back from the blow, tripped, and crashed to the ground right next to Flinch, whose icy prison shattered. Flinch fell over with a panicked yell. Crea landed neatly on the ground a few meters from the two.

Crea then walked forward and finished coldly, "only human."

Malco and Flinch got to their feet. Flinch looked around at the destruction Crea had caused and made a panicked yelp as she approached him and Malco.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!!" Flinch squealed as he quickly tapped away at his gauntlet.

A green portal soon appeared behind Flinch and Malco. Flinch moved for the portal, but Malco stood his ground.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT?!" Flinch screamed. "RUN AWAY!" Malco did not move, but growled at Crea.

"You should listen to the little man, giant," Crea said confidently.

She then spread her arms and two orbs of energy quickly appeared in them. Crea quickly brought her hands together in front of her and, as she did, the orbs merged into a powerful sphere. The sphere and Crea's hands crackled with energy and her eyes began to glow.

"If you run," Crea said, and then in fury continued, "you just might live!"

The sphere then surged forward in a stream of energy. Malco raised his arms to block the attack, which struck him. He flew back, colliding with Flinch, and both flew into the portal. The portal shut behind them.

Crea then lowered her arms and sighed, "That's too bad… He was actually pretty fun."

The Defenders looked on in astonishment, and Crea turned to face them. As she did, Kara slowly opened her eyes; Crea was the first thing she saw.

"Uh… Crea…?" Kara said weakly.

"Crea?" Mel said with surprise.

"She's referring to me."

"How did you do all that? It was unbelievable!" Erik exclaimed.

"Heh, you know, even that is a bit of a mystery to me."

"Huh?" Erik said.

"Maybe your friend could tell you more. If she lives." Crea then turned her back on the Defenders before continuing, "For the record, I only fought them for me. Not for you."

Shimmering blue lights then surrounded Crea. As they immersed her body, there was a flash of light, and then Crea was gone.

The Defenders then turned to Kara, who was still weakly looking at where Crea had once been.

"Uh, Kara?" Seth said. "Was she what you wanted to talk about?"

Kara did not answer, but just stared at where Crea once was. Before, Kara had thought Crea was just plain weird. Now, Crea scared Kara. She had seen most of the fight, and what Crea could do was scary.

--

Elsewhere, by a set of forest cliffs, a cluster of blue lights appeared and merged together. Crea then appeared from the lights and looked around.

"Hmm… GAH!—"

Suddenly, Crea's body began to crackle with electricity and she felt a searing pain wrack her entire body. She fell to her knees, gasping in pain, and clutched one hand to her chest, the other hand holding up her body. She knew what this pain was; she had felt it before. Though she did not know why she kept feeling this pain, she knew what it meant: she had used up too much energy in the battle.

Crea looked around, before settling her eyes on a large rock covered in Sigils. She urged her body forward stumbled over to the rock. Once she reached it, she knelt for a moment; the pain was unbearable. Then, fighting her pain, she screamed as she thrust her hands at the rock, causing it to crack as she struck it. Her hands then began to glow and the energy within the rock began to stream into her body. She breathed heavily as the pain continued to course through her. As she continued to absorb the energy, the pain began to subside. Soon, the pain left her, and the rock had turned dark. She was still panting heavily, however.

She placed one hand to her chest and said, "Damn it… Why does this keep happening to me? Why am I plagued by this weakness?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?!"

At this point, Crea was truly frustrated and she swung her hand into the dark rock, which broke to pieces as she struck it. As the shards fell to the ground, she continued to breathe heavily in frustration.

"Still so many questions, and still no answers… how long must I continuing searching?!"

Crea clenched her hands in fists and almost brought herself to tears over her anguish, but she did not cry. Soon enough, her anger left her, when something occurred to her.

"Nazmul… that name… so familiar… who is he? How do I know his name?"

Crea then turned and looked toward the sunset. Whatever her connection to Nazmul was, she believed that it might give her some answers. Perhaps someday, she might be able to meet him, and maybe she would get some answers.

**END OF CHAPTER 2**

Please make your reviews.


	3. Chaos

Here's the third chapter of my fanfic, rewritten and ready to go. Enjoy!

**CHAPTER 3: CHAOS**

It was morning in a small suburb village near the Altamor border and the townsfolk were going about their everyday business. The village was mainly a farming and market town, where everyone was doing their part to help with the harvest or to sell their produce.

As the people went about their daily tasks, sitting at a fountain in the market, the enigmatic Crea looked around at the townsfolk. As she did, she envied them.

She sighed and said, "Humans… such weak beings and yet they are so certain of their history. Unlike me… I have power, but my past is clouded. All I have are my dreams, but what do they mean? The battle… the Megalith… the white stones… why do I constantly dream of them? What do they all mean?"

As she finished musing, Crea got to her feet and walked through the market. She looked around at the people, whose voices were so numerous it was impossible to tell what they were talking about. After walking for a minute, she stopped and sighed.

All of a sudden, Crea felt a sudden surge of pain run through her head, unlike anything she had felt before. It wasn't like what happened when her energy was low; this was something altogether different. She clutched her head and screamed from the pain, wishing it would stop. As she held her head, her body began to glow with a strange pattern running across her body. As it did, she lost control of her limbs and began to fall backwards, but suddenly she began to float a few inches above the ground as her body surged with energy. The energy resonated around Crea and people around her fled in terror as the energies wrecked everything around her. A shimmering light then surrounded Crea and her eyes glowed as she screamed in agony.

Everything went black through Crea's mind. She then found herself floating in an endless void filled with glittering stars. Her body felt limp and weak. Then, she saw it: a white stone, bearing the Dako Sigil on it right before her.

"The White Stone of Chaos…"

Crea tried to lift an arm to touch it, but strained as she did.

"What does this mean? What… does… it—"

She then touched the stone, but as she did the stone then emitted a blinding light, which startled Crea and forced her to shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she found herself staring right into the monstrous green eyes of the Megalith. She gasped slightly at the sight. The Megalith roared as it reared its claws and a wave of energy surged forth from its body. As the wave of energy struck Crea, she screamed.

--

Crea shrieked as she bolted upwards in a bed. She breathed heavily for a moment and put a hand to her chest to calm her nerves. What she had just experienced was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Her breathing eventually slowed, and then she looked around. She was in a bedroom, though not an inn room. She slowly pushed herself out of the bed and stepped over to a nearby mirror. She checked herself; nothing was different with her.

"Oh, you're awake," said a voice behind her.

Crea turned to see a portly middle-aged man in the doorway. He was simple in appearance, aside from a beard and a fine wardrobe, but then again Crea did not really care for how people looked. To her, he was just like any other human.

"That's good," the man continued. "That was certainly quite a scare you gave everyone. Care to explain what was going on there?"

"Why do you wish to know?" Crea said almost demandingly.

"Oh, well… I am the mayor of this here town, and it is my duty to ensure the safety and security of the town and its people."

"Hmm… isn't that pleasant."

"Uh, pardon, little lady?"

"You are already so sure of your path in life and your role in this town. It must be nice knowing everything there is to know about your place in Rados."

"Mmm?"

"It would be pointless to explain it to you. Now," Crea walked toward the man as she spoke, "out of my way. I have better things to do."

"I am sorry, miss, but I can't just let you leave. Besides, the townsfolk are mighty—"

Before the mayor could finish, Crea had thrust a hand at his collar and harshly pulled the man to her face. Her arm was glowing with energy.

"I said move!"

Crea then tossed the mayor to the side and he yelped as he crashed into a nearby table, which broke apart as he struck it. As the man lay in a heap, Crea strode off down the hall.

Soon Crea made her way to the entrance, but as she left the town hall she looked down to see a large mob of people waiting down a flight of stairs. It didn't take long for her to figure out that they were after her.

"There she is!" yelled one man. "The little witch girl!"

The crowd jeered as the man finished and began waving various tools such as rakes, hoes and torches at her threateningly. A few of them had Spell Stones, but not many.

One large man walked out of the crowd and shouted, "People, this fiend is a menace to our community! It is our duty to rid ourselves and the rest of humanity of this threat!"

The crowd cheered at this speech and raised their weapons in approval. After a moment, though, Crea began to laugh, and the crowd fell silent as they stared at her.

"Just like you humans!" Crea shouted. "Always trying to justify yourselves as the dominant species of the Realm, yet you're too blind to see your own weakness."

This obviously angered the crowd, as they began to roar furiously at Crea. Many of them charged up the stairs at her. A few energy blasts flew at Crea, but they struck a barrier harmlessly.

"Heh. Fools."

Crea spread her arms apart and her body slowly began to glow. She then rose a few inches above the ground. Crea shut her eyes, and when she opened them again they were glowing. A large number of small spheres began to form around Crea that spiraled around her. The crowd stopped and looked on it awe at the spectacle. Crea's eyes then narrowed, and then the lights jetted at the mob erroneously. As the spheres flew forward, some of them struck nearby objects, exploding as they did. The crowd began to panic and ran from the oncoming destruction, though some were killed quickly by the devastating attack. As the spheres flew into the town, their blasts quickly set the town ablaze.

Back atop the stairs, as the destruction and screams continued and as more of her energy spheres flew into the town, Crea began to laugh maniacally.

--

Later, at around noon that day, the Di-Gata Defenders sped down the road. At the front, Seth was keeping one eye on Melosa, who was riding beside him. The four of them were presently traveling to the Pinnacle, where they hoped to help Mel deal with her Wizard attacks once and for all. Seth was hoping they would reach the Pinnacle soon, as Mel's condition was only getting worse as each day passed.

Erik then rode up beside Seth and said, "Hey Seth, I was just looking at the map and there's supposed to be a merchant town nearby. Maybe we could stop there for supplies."

"Not now, Erik," Seth answered. "We need to reach the Pinnacle as soon as possible. Besides, we've got enough supplies to last us for a bit anyways. Maybe after we get Mel's powers under control."

Seth then looked over at Mel and realized his words at somewhat disheartened her. Mel had always felt her Wizard powers were a burden, not a gift, and so far they had caused more trouble than had been useful.

Kara then said behind them, "Uh, guys?"

She pointed in front of them. The Defenders looked to see several pillars of smoke rising into the sky, and when they looked down, they saw a town engulfed in flames.

"Oh, man…" Erik said.

Seth then revved the accelerator on his bike and shouted, "Come on, guys!"

Seth sped down the road; the others quickly followed him.

--

The Defenders entered the town, only to find panic and destruction wherever they looked. People were screaming as they fled the town, while several men were trying to put out the fires. In another location, some other villagers were tending to the wounded. And wherever the Defenders looked there was death. The sight of it was painful to them.

"By the Sigils of Power…" Erik said.

"This is horrible…" Mel said in a tone of distress.

Seth tried not to let the horrid sight distract him as he looked about at the people. He then fixed his eyes on one man and ran up to him.

Seth then shouted, "What happened here?"

The man turned and said crossly, "What business is it of yours, kid?"

As the other Defenders walked up beside Seth, he said, "We're the Di-Gata Defenders. We want to help."

"Well, if you're so keen on helping us," the man said, "you can help put out these fires. They're out of control!"

Seth turned to the others and said, "Guys—"

"Already on it," Erik interrupted as he, Mel and Kara ran off in different directions of the town.

Seth then pulled out his Guardian stone. _Kragus, take form!_ The stone giant emerged from the ground and roared.

"Kragus, go see if you can find any more survivors!" Seth shouted.

Kragus roared in acknowledgement, and then began working his way down the street.

Seth then turned back toward the man and said, "Now, tell me. What happened here?"

--

On one side of town, a large storehouse was blazing uncontrollably. The men were in disarray, unable to douse the fire. The flames continued to grow in strength.

"It's out of control!" one man shouted. "Run for your lives!"

As the men began to flee, they stopped as Robotus, Erik's guardian, rolled through them. One of the machine's arms had been turned into what looked like a cannon. The other arm had a large set of hose attached to it.

Erik then ran up and shouted to the men, "I need water! Lots of it!"

One man pointed toward a nearby stream, from which some other men were hauling buckets. Erik pulled out the hose and ran to the stream, lowering the end of the hose into the water. He then turned a nozzle on the hose and water began to flow through it. As the pressure reached Robotus, the machine turned and began spraying at the fire. However, the water could only slow the fire.

"Crap," Erik said. "The flames are too strong!" He paused for a moment, scratching his head, then in an inspired tone exclaimed, "Unless…"

Erik raised his gauntlet. _Generator!_ The spell formed into a circular device and floated in front of Robotus, who had stopped spraying. Once it hovered into place, Robotus fired into the center of the device. As the water went through the device, it massively increased in volume and intensity and struck the blazing building hard. The fires were almost instantly doused. The men cheered at Erik's success, while he just stood and smiled.

--

Above the village, Kara and her guardian V-Moth flew over the town, with Kara looking for any survivors. She then heard screaming down below and looked to see a woman and a little boy trembling on top of a house roof. The building was burning on the inside. Kara steered V-Moth down toward the building and stopped her guardian next to the villagers.

"Hang on!" Kara shouted. "We'll get you down!"

"Please," the woman cried, "take my son first!"

The woman lifted her son toward Kara, who helped the boy onto V-Moth's back. The guardian flew toward the street and hovered low enough for the boy to get off.

"Don't worry," Kara said to the boy. "Your mom will be fine."

Kara pulled on V-Moth's antennae and the guardian began to fly back to the house. As they approached, though, the building began to collapse beneath the woman, who shrieked in terror.

Kara gasped and shouted, "V-Moth, hurry!"

The insect guardian hastily increased its speed. As Kara reached the building, the roof gave way under the woman's feet and she began to fall. V-Moth dove quickly after the woman, flying through the thick clouds of smoke.

"NO! MOMMY!" the boy cried.

As the boy began to weep, he suddenly heard V-Moth, and the guardian flew up out of the smoke, with the woman's collar in its pincers. Kara, her face covered in soot, looked at the child and gave him a thumbs-up. V-Moth let the woman go next to her son and they embraced, the boy sobbing happily.

--

At the town hall, Melosa ran up to the stairs. She could hardly believe what she was seeing; the chaos and destruction were almost too much for her to bear. Then, as she reached the top of the stairs, she felt something; a strange energy, unlike most she was used to sensing. It brought about a sense of anxiety in her, for the energy was familiar to her. Then it all clicked in for her, much to her dread.

Suddenly, a man's voice came from the town hall. "Help! HELP!" it cried out.

Mel turned to look at a window on the upper floor of the building. The voice was coming from that room. She turned to the entrance and ran inside the burning town hall. As soon as Mel entered, she found it hard to breathe; the air was very hot and filled with smoke. She choked for a moment as she made her way to the stairs and climbed them.

The man's voice sounded again: "Help! Someone please, HELP!"

Mel looked to a room down the hall. She began to walk toward it. Suddenly, about halfway there, the floor gave underneath her. Mel screamed as she fell and grabbed the nearest ledge she could find with both hands. As she hung from the ledge, she looked down to see a blazing inferno beneath her, threatening to incinerate her. Sweat trickled down her face.

"Whoa… that was too close."

She slowly managed to pull herself up the ledge and got to her feet. By this time, though, the heat and smoke were starting to get to her; she started to feel weary and sick. She coughed on the air for a moment, then got to her feet and continued down the hall.

Mel finally reached the door and looked into the room. Fire raged all about the room. In the middle, buried under a pile of rubble, was a portly man. It was the mayor.

He saw Melosa and said, "Oh, young lady! Please, help me! I can't move!"

"Hang on!" Mel replied. "I'll get you out of there! AHH!—"

Flames roared before Mel, causing her to fall backwards. Thick flames blocked Mel's path to the mayor, increasing in intensity by the second. She got to her feet and pulled out her stones. _Blizzard!_ A snowy wind rushed through the room, causing the flames to recede. Soon, the flames were mostly gone. Mel ran over to the mayor and began removing the rubble on top of him.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" the man exclaimed.

Just then, the floor around the two crumbled and broke, causing the mayor to yelp in terror. Below them an inferno raged, and it was growing stronger.

"Don't thank me just yet," Mel said, as she removed the last of the rubble from the man.

Mel looked around; for a moment, she thought the situation hopeless. Just then, a nearby wall crumbled to the ground, leaving a wide opening to the outside. But from where Melosa and the mayor were they were too high up to jump, and even if they could jump the flames were too strong.

"Don't worry. We'll get out of this."

Mel's amulet then began to glow. _Draykor, Subzero!_ The ice drake materialized before Melosa and screeched, which seemed to frighten the mayor.

Mel then said, "My guardian will fly you down, okay? Draykor!"

Draykor screeched as it flew above the mayor and wrapped its talons around his shoulders. He yelped as the drake lifted him off the ground and began to fly him out of the building. The guardian soon cleared the building and began to descend towards the ground.

Mel watched as her guardian brought the mayor to the ground, but her attention soon turned to the inferno roaring below her. It was getting dangerously close to reaching her. As she stared at the flames, Draykor flew in to pick her up.

Suddenly, Melosa felt a strange force beginning to well up inside her. The instant Mel felt this she would have panicked, if she could. It was her Wizard powers, going out of her control again. Mel began to glow a brilliant blue aura and her eyes shined a white light. Energy crackled all over her body, making her feel weak and lightheaded. As the energies surged, Draykor screeched as an errant energy bolt struck it. The ice drake vanished, returning to Mel's pendant. The Wizard attack soon passed, and Melosa fell back onto the raised floor, unconscious.

The floor beneath Mel cracked as the flames grew closer. Soon, the floor gave way and Mel's body fell. As it did, a giant stone hand emerged beneath her and caught her. Outside the building, Kragus roared as he moved her away from the fire.

Outside the town hall next to Kragus, Seth looked on as his guardian brought Mel toward him. Seth had seen the light of Mel's Wizard attack and was deeply concerned for her safety. Kragus soon set Mel down on the ground and backed away from her.

"Mel? Mel?! MEL?!" Seth said fearfully as he cradled her in his arms.

Melosa slowly stirred and opened her eyes. She then started coughing out soot. Seth, relieved that she was still alive, wrapped his arms around her as she wheezed.

--

Later, at around dusk, the flames in the town finally died down. From the ruins, pillars of smoke still continued to rise.

Near the town hall, Seth and Mel sat on the wrecked stairway. Melosa was wrapped in a blanket with Seth at her side. Soon, Erik and Kara walked up to them.

"Well," Erik said, "that certainly wasn't very enjoyable."

"I'll say," Kara replied. She then noticed Mel and said, "Is Mel okay?"

"I'm fine," Mel said. "Just a little singed."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Erik said. "We've gotta find out who did this!"

"Yeah!" Kara said eagerly. "I'm ready to kick some serious—"

"That may be a problem, guys," Seth interrupted. "I found out who did this."

Erik and Kara looked at Seth, slightly confused. Mel, however, looked as though she already knew what Seth was going to say.

"It was Crea."

Almost in an instant, Erik and Kara's eagerness turned to shock and horror.

"Oh, man…" Erik stuttered.

"You're kidding…" Kara continued.

"Seth's right," Mel interrupted. "I sensed her energy. Crea did this."

Seth then said, "The people described a young blue-haired girl who practically razed the town singlehandedly. They then said she disappeared into thin air after she finished."

"Yeah, that's her alright," Kara said in a slightly sullen tone.

There was a pause, then Erik said, "So Seth, what are we gonna do about it?"

Seth hesitated for a moment at this question. He had seen what Crea was capable of, which unnerved him. Trying to fight her would certainly be suicidal. But still, they couldn't just let her get away with such a massacre.

"We're going after her," he said with determination.

Obviously, Seth's decision surprised the others, for they all looked in shock at him.

"SETH, ARE YOU NUTS?!" Erik practically shouted. "You know how powerful that girl is! It'd be crazy to fight her!"

"I know, Erik." Seth said sternly. "But we have a duty to protect the people of Rados, even if it means going up against Crea. I have to admit, I don't enjoy the prospect of fighting her either, but we can't just let her get away with this."

"I agree with Seth," Mel said. "Something has to be done, and I say we do it now."

Kara nodded affirmatively to Mel and Seth, but Erik was still skeptical.

"I see what you guys mean," Erik said, "but didn't the people say she VANISHED into thin air? How do we know she's still in the area?"

"She is," Mel interrupted. "I can sense her energy. It's faint, but it's definitely her."

"Well, which way is it?" Seth asked.

Mel pointed northeast and said, "That way. As far as I can tell, at least."

"Are you sure?" said Erik.

"Pretty sure."

Seth then spotted the mayor, who was speaking to a group of men, and shouted, "Mr. Mayor!"

The mayor turned and replied, "Um, yes, Defenders?"

"Can you tell us if there's anything northeast of the town? Any landmarks or buildings?"

"Hmm… Well, there is a large stone quarry about two miles from here. It's rich with natural ores, but we usually don't go there. Quite an unstable energy zone."

Upon hearing the mayor's last words, Kara exclaimed, "That's it! That's where she is!"

"Huh?" Erik said. "How are you so sure?"

"When I met her back in the forest, she did something to a tree. When she finished, it looked like she sucked the life out of it."

"Of course!" Erik exclaimed. "She must have absorbed the energy from the tree into her bodily structure. She probably uses—"

"Let's not get technical here, Erik," Seth interrupted. "What matters is that we now know where she is."

--

The sky was beginning to darken as the Defenders sped northeastward. Soon, they reached a small outcropping leading into a large stone quarry. The area was littered with large rocks, many bearing Sigils on them. The Defenders dismounted from their bikes and walked up to the ledge.

Seth then turned to Mel and said, "Mel, can you sense anything?" Mel paused and shut her eyes, trying to focus.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and said, "Yeah, it's her."

Just then, a faint light began to shine in the middle of the quarry, catching their attention. Seth pressed a button on his visor, activating it, and zoomed in on the light source. There, standing next to a large stone was Crea, her hand glowing up against the stone.

"I see her," Seth said. "She's doing something with a large stone."

"She's absorbing energy," Mel said. The others turned to her as she continued, "I can sense her energy getting stronger. Not by much, but still stronger. It's more like she's recharging herself."

"Okay, we can't take her on directly, considering what we know about her. Here's what we're gonna do."

--

In the middle of the quarry, Crea continued to siphon the energy from the stones around her. Destroying the town had been somewhat enjoyable to her, but nonetheless it had taken a lot of energy. But at this moment, she was concentrating on something else, not just her recharge.

Nearby, Seth stealthily moved his way through the rock formations, slowly closing in behind Crea. In other locations, Erik, Kara and Mel did the same. Soon, they all managed to get close to Crea, surrounding her, but remaining out of sight. They all readied their stones.

"Okay…" Seth said to himself quietly.

Just then, Crea stopped draining the stone and stood still for a moment.

"Tell me, Defenders," Crea said loudly, much to their surprise. "How long do you plan on hiding behind those rocks?"

"What…? How…?" Seth whispered.

"Seriously," Crea continued, "did you really think you could just sneak up on me and catch me by surprise so easily? I sensed your presences the moment you set foot into this pile of rock."

The Defenders were distraught. They had completely lost the element of surprise. Moreover, they never had it. She had been expecting them all along.

"So much for our plan," Erik said to himself.

Seth shouted, "Crea! Why did you destroy that town? Why did you kill all those innocent people?"

"Innocent? Those bastards? They were the ones who raised their stones and their arms to me, just because they were scared of me. They got what they deserved: a swift death. That is what awaits all those who dare to challenge my power. And it is a fate you face as well. That is, unless you flee with your lives right now. I may show you mercy if you do."

"Not gonna happen! Not until you pay for what you've done!"

Crea laughed and said, "How brave of you." She then turned to where Seth was hiding and said, "So be it then… today you face death."

Seth, even knowing facing Crea directly would be insane, bolted out from behind his cover and cast his stones. _Pandemonium!_ A series of jellyfish-like creatures flew forth and began to race toward Crea. She merely grinned as she raised her hands, with their index and middle fingers together. From her hands, two glowing yellow threads extended from her fingertips. As Seth's spell approached her, Crea whipped the threads out at the spell. The threads cut through the creatures with ease and, in what seemed like a matter of seconds, Crea had neatly cut apart the spell.

Crea then held her hands up and smirked at Seth. Just then, Mel's voice sounded to the side. _Crystal Casket!_ A stream of ice bolted at Crea and began to engulf her in ice as it struck her feet. In a moment, Crea was completely encased in ice. The threads dissipated as Crea froze.

Seth turned to Melosa and said, "Nice one."

"Thanks."

The two were then cut off by a nearby rumbling. They turned toward Crea to see the ice surrounding her starting to crack. The ice then exploded around Crea, forcing Seth and Mel to shield themselves from the shards. They then looked back at Crea, dismayed to see she was undamaged.

"Oh, great…" Mel groaned.

Crea brushed herself off, then turned to face Mel and said, "That… was uncalled for."

Crea then thrust out a palm at her; as she did, a beam of energy shot out of her hand and flew at the Defender. Mel shrieked as she dove out of the way, the blast barely missing her and striking a rock, which exploded. Crea then swung her other hand over her head and to the ground in Seth's direction and a wave of energy flew at him, shaped like a blade. Seth quickly shifted to the side and the wave barely passed by him. Seth then broke into a run, hoping to evade Crea's attacks.

Behind Crea, Erik readied his gauntlet and swung out from behind his cover. _Robotus, Activate!_ The machine guardian appeared, its arms as four energy cannons, and it took aim at Crea. Crea turned just as Robotus fired a volley of blasts at her, to which Crea raised a hand to the attack. A barrier materialized in front of Crea's hand, blocking the barrage. She grinned confidently and slowly starting walking toward Robotus as it continued to fire. As she moved, so did her barrier around her, which was showing no sign of weakness under the barrage.

Realizing the attack was ineffective Erik raised his gauntlet again. _Generator!_ The spell formed a series of strange devices around Robotus' blasters. As the guardian resumed firing, the blasts fired were amplified by the devices and struck Crea's barrier with much greater power. As her shield strained under the pressure, Crea grimaced, and then her barrier began to glow much more brightly. As it did, the blasts became less effective as Crea's shield increased in strength.

"Come on, buddy!" Erik shouted. "Let her have it!"

Robotus continued to fire at Crea, but it was no use. Soon, the girl reached Robotus and in a quick movement she swung her free hand at Robotus, releasing an energy blast that blew off the robot's left side cannons. She then quickly darted to the guardian's exposed side and thrust a hand to the robot. Robotus then began to spark with energy as Crea unleashed an energy surge into its systems. Robotus went haywire, firing its shots in random directions. As it reached critical power, Crea kicked off of Robotus and the guardian exploded. Crea landed neatly on the ground as Erik caught his guardian's stone.

Crea then said, "Honestly, is that it? I was hoping you would be a bit more of a challenge."

Kara then leaped up from the top of a nearby rock and cast her stones. _Bolt of Altas!_ As Kara landed, a storm cloud appeared above Crea. She looked up at it and a bolt of lightning shot down at her. Crea quickly raised a hand to the lightning, which seemed to enter her fingertips. She then pointed her other hand at Kara and a bolt of lightning shot out of her fingers. Kara yelped as she jumped over the bolt, which struck a nearby stone and exploded.

Seth looked on at Crea with a tinge of fear. He had witnessed her power before when she battled the Order of Infinis, but now that he and his friends were the targets of her power it was far more daunting. Seth then pulled out his guardian stone. _Kragus, take form!_ Kragus appeared next to Crea. She whipped around as the guardian roared and swung a massive fist at her. She jumped back, the blow missing her, and then she began to float in the air.

"Oh, come on, Seth!" Crea taunted. "Your guardian is no match for me and you know it!"

She then flew forward at Kragus and her arms began glowing. She threw a fist at the stone giant, but Kragus raised his arms and blocked the strike. To Crea's surprise, Kragus held her back and then, in a sudden movement, the guardian flung her backwards. She flipped and planted her feet neatly on a stone behind her.

"Impressive," Crea growled.

"You'll have to do better than that, Crea!" Seth yelled. "Kragus is a lot tougher than when you last saw him!"

Crea jumped away from the rock as one of Kragus' fists flew at her and it smashed the rock. She then began to glide sideways.

"Well, then," Crea said, "I guess I'll just have to hit a little harder!"

Crea stopped a few meters away from Kragus and raised a hand to the giant, her palm facing forward. Her arm began to surge with energy and a crackling orb appeared in Crea's palm. Kragus roared as he launched another fist at Crea. Just before the fist struck, the orb in Crea's hand streamed forward in a massive beam, which obliterated the stone fist and continued on toward Kragus. The blast blew the giant to pieces and Seth's guardian stone reappeared in his hand. Seth growled at Crea.

_Yin-icane!_ Crea turned around just as a twister crackling with electrical energy flew at her and enveloped her. Crea floated in the middle and growled as she attempted to create a new shield, while the winds and electricity violently struck her. _Incinerator!_ A large fireball flew at the tornado. As it struck a flaming spiral added to the tornado's destructive power. _Twisting Chaos! Frigid Tempest!_ From two directions, a snowy wind and a black spiral flew at Crea and combined with the flaming and sparking spiral. Soon, the combined attack began to overload, causing a massive explosion of energy. The Defenders shielded their eyes from the blast.

Soon, the explosion passed, and the Defenders looked back at where Crea was. As the smoke cleared, Crea appeared, floating shortly above the ground. Her red cloak had been disintegrated, though her other clothing was only slightly damaged. Various parts of her body were damaged with cuts and energy burns. Crea's injuries seemed to be releasing what looked like blue particles instead of blood. But at the same time, small green lights were materializing around the injuries, joining with her skin. Crea breathed heavily as she stared at the Defenders.

Then, after a moment, she started laughing, first softly, and then almost maniacally. The Defenders, however, stared in bewilderment, as they had no idea what she was laughing about.

"Not bad, Defenders!" Crea cried. "I thought this wasn't going to be much of a challenge."

The Defenders then realized why Crea was like this. As the green lights surrounding Crea came into contact with her, they quickly began repairing her injuries. The Defenders stared with a mixture of confusion and horror as Crea's body regenerated.

Crea then continued, "And then you go and surprise me. I have to congratulate you on that. To my memory, no one has ever done this well against me."

Soon, her injuries disappeared and the green lights disappeared. She slowly touched down as the Defenders readied themselves to fight again. After she landed, Crea raised a hand above her head and moved it in a circle. As she moved her hand, a glowing yellow halo appeared. The halo slowly began to expand and a short distance above Crea's hand. Soon, the halo reached a radius of at least two meters.

Crea then looked right at Seth and said grimly, "But now, our relationship must come to an end."

As she finished, the halo dropped straight to the ground. As it hit the ground, there was a massive explosion all around Crea, which engulfed everything around her yet did not touch her. The blast sent the Defenders flying back. Seth and Kara skidded across the ground for a bit as they landed, while Erik slid into a large rock. Mel, however, flew through the air and hurtled into a large rock. She fell to the ground. As she did, her bag opened and the Dako Pure Stone rolled out of it onto the ground.

As the dust around her cleared, Crea looked on at the Defenders, finishing with Mel. She then noticed the Pure Stone; the sight of it instantly brought a look of surprise to Crea's eyes.

"The White Stone of Chaos…" she said.

Crea then began to stride toward the stone. As she did, Seth, Kara and Erik struggled to their feet and saw Crea walking toward the Pure Stone.

"The Pure Stone!" Kara cried.

"Stop her!" Seth barked.

The three quickly cast their spells at Crea. _Forge Fire! Dark Anarchy! Typhoon of Power!_ The spells flew at Crea, but they all struck a barrier around her as she continued to walk toward Mel and the Dako Pure Stone. Soon, Crea neared Melosa, who scrambled in front of the Pure Stone. Mel readied her stones to fight Crea.

"Breath of the— AHH!"

Crea harshly kicked Mel aside before she could finish. Mel sprawled across the rocky floor. Crea then walked over to the Pure Stone and picked it up with both hands. She raised it to her face and stared at it inquisitively. To the side, Erik and Kara ran over to help Mel, while Seth cast a spell at Crea in anger. _Doom Dart!_ A bolt of energy flew at Crea.

Just then, Crea's eyes began to shine a brilliant white light and she became surrounded by a field of red energy. Seth's spell struck the field and fizzled out. Crea didn't even notice, but seemed entranced by the Pure Stone. She did not move a muscle.

"Mel, are you alright?" Erik asked as he knelt down beside her.

"Uh… I'm okay." Mel said wearily. "But, the Pure Stone…!"

The two looked at Crea's motionless form. Seth was already running at her to retake the Pure Stone, but as he struck the energy field he flew back and landed in a heap.

"Okay," Erik said, "that's not gonna work." Seth glared at him.

Kara ran up near Crea and said, "What's happening? What did the Pure Stone do to her?"

"I think she's in some kind of trance," Melosa said.

"You don't think the Megalith's trying to possess her, do you?" Erik said almost fearfully.

"I'm not sure. Who knows if it could?"

"Whatever's happening, we have to get through this barrier," Seth said.

"But how?" Erik said. "We've barely got any stone energy left, and that field looks really strong."

"I don't know… But we'd better think of something and soon."

--

Crea found herself standing in a vast wasteland. All around, the sky was green and bleak and there were no signs of any life. Crea hadn't the faintest idea what had happened to her or where she was. Suddenly, a strange feeling ran through her. Something was nearby… something powerful… something horrible… something familiar….

She then heard a loud roar behind her. She quickly turned around. Looming right in front of her, the great form of the Megalith looked down on Crea and roared.

"You… the Megalith…"

As Crea stared on at the mighty beast, fear and admiration of the Megalith went through her mind. She had only dreamed of the Megalith before, but now she was standing before it, and it was surely not a dream this time.

"You are the one from my dreams…" Crea said as she slowly stepped toward the great beast. "Years ago, the Di-Gata Defenders defeated you and your master. No, they did not defeat you…"

As she approached the Megalith, she started to see things from its mind. She then realized what had happened to it on the day in her dreams.

"They sealed you within the white stones to contain your power. But you do not wish to remain here… You wish for freedom, to serve your master… To serve Nazmul… So he is your master… No… he's not your master… you are bound to him… bound to his soul."

The Megalith did not move, but growled at Crea. It was almost as if it were trying to speak to her.

"But… you and I… why do I dream of you…? What do these dreams mean to me? Please, answer me! PLEASE!"

As she said this, the gemstone on Crea's forehead began to glow a red light and her eyes glowed white. As it did, the Megalith's center eye also began to glow a brilliant, yet eerie green. A Henge made of all eight Sigils appeared briefly in the Megalith's eye, and then a beam of white energy left the Megalith's eye and connected with Crea's gemstone. As the two linked, the beam was surrounded by a swirl of red energy, originating from Crea. The two merely stood for a moment as the reaction continued. Soon, the same Henge in the Megalith's eye appeared surrounding the gemstone, and as quickly as it appeared it faded away. Then, the gemstone's light began to intensify and a shimmering light engulfed Crea and the Megalith.

--

Back in the quarry, the energy field around Crea suddenly began to intensify. The Defenders stared on in surprise as the gemstone on Crea's forehead shimmered with a red light. Then, her body began to glow in a strange pattern. Crea suddenly gasped, having regained consciousness, and the first thing she felt was an intense surge of power rushing through her. She dropped the Pure Stone and screamed. The energy rushing through her was a sensation Crea had never felt before, but she loved it. The red field around Crea began to become erratic and started wrecking everything around her.

"What's happening?!" Kara screamed.

"How should I know?!" Erik responded.

"Something's changing in her!" Melosa shouted. "Her power, it's increasing!"

"Well, what do we do?!"

"I don't know! But we'd better do something or—"

Mel stopped at this moment when she felt a surge of energy build up inside her. She then began to glow a blue aura and her eyes started glowing blue as well. She then looked sternly at Crea, out of her own accord, and extended her hands at Crea.

Then, in an almost otherworldly tone, she chanted, "_Infinis, Sum, Altas!_" As she finished chanting, Mel's arms began to crackle with immense energy.

Crea sensed the energy and turned to face Melosa. Almost instantly, she sensed the power of Mel's Wizard energies. She quickly realized that the Defender posed a threat. As she did, a massive blue beam of energy streamed from Melosa's hands and soared at Crea. Crea raised her hands to block the beam, but the beam pierced right through her defenses. Above the battlefield, there was a massive explosion as the beam streamed through the quarry, wrecking a line across the field.

Melosa stood in place as her Wizard energies receded. She panted heavily as she and the other Defenders looked on at Crea. Crea trembled and gagged in pain and shock. Melosa's attack was causing her energies to go out of control. Various parts of her body looked as though they were coming apart, and all across her body blue energy channeled across her.

"Damn it…! Not… like… this…" Crea growled in pain. "I… won't die… like this…!"

As she said this, Crea was surrounded by numerous blue lights, which creating a flash of light as they massed around her. The Defenders shielded their eyes from the light. When the Defenders looked back, Crea was gone.

After a moment, Kara said, "Is… is it over? Is she gone?"

"I don't know." Seth replied. "I hope so."

"Are you kidding?!" Erik exclaimed. "Mel fried her! There's no way she's still alive!"

"I'm not so sure that worked, Erik," Mel said as Seth knelt down beside her and picked up the Pure Stone. "We barely know a thing about Crea, and I'm not even sure of what I just did to her."

As Mel finished, she looked up at the sky and wondered whether they were truly rid of Crea.

--

Elsewhere, in a nearby cliff region, a mass of small blue lights converged on top of one cliff. With a flash of light, Crea warped in, still coming apart from Melosa's attack. Crea's legs gave way as she touched onto the ground and she fell to her knees, throwing out her hands in front to hold herself up. She groaned and almost gagged in agony.

Crea could not remember the last time, if ever, that she had sustained such an injury. The attack had disrupted much of her bodily energies, and as a result Crea's body was falling apart. The problem was she didn't know how to counter it. The attack would soon kill her if she could not stop it. Crea swore to herself that if she were to survive this that she would make the end for the Di-Gata Defenders a slow and painful one.

Suddenly, the gemstone on Crea's forehead began to glow a green aura, and she was surrounded by a green energy. Crea suddenly felt the pain of Melosa's Wizard attack begin to diminish, but she couldn't understand what was happening. Then it hit her: her body was acting of its own accord, working to preserve itself from death. She looked at her arms to see the various portions that were once coming apart reconstructing themselves. Soon, her whole body came back together.

As the green glow around Crea faded, she felt a terrible weakness wash over her. Too weak to hold herself up, Crea slumped to her side and onto her back. Her vision began to become blurry as she looked up at the stars, and then everything went black. Crea lost consciousness, but her white-centered eyes remained open as if she were awake.

**END OF CHAPTER 3**

Please leave comments. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.


	4. Something Old, Something New

The fourth chapter of my fanfic, and one that explores a bit into Crea's background... if only modestly. This one had quite a few modifications made to its original form. Enjoy!

**CHAPTER 4: SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW**

The sky above was shrouded by dark storm clouds and crackled with lighting, but there was no rain. The air was filled with a great energy, clearly unnatural.

Down below, a contingent of men armed with blasters ran in toward the center of a large crater. In the crater's center was a humongous monster. Unmistakably, it was the Megalith, and it was clearly angry. The soldiers around the Megalith opened fire, but their weapons seemed to only irritate the beast. The Megalith turned toward one group of men and breathed a stream of energy at them. They were vaporized instantly. It then swung one of its claws at another group, crushing one man and sending his comrades flying. All around the Megalith, men continued to clamor and shoot their weapons at it.

As the battle continued, a man in an elegant dark robe walked up to the side of the crater. He had a gaunt face, with a black stubble beard and the Altas Sigil on his forehead. In his hands was a cube, which had on it a Henge that was made of all eight Sigils. As the man walked up to the crater's edge, an officer ran up in front of him.

"Lord Nazmul," the officer said, "we have not yet contained the target. Please, stay back."

"Your weapons will not harm this creature, captain. I only need your men to distract the Megalith while I work the spell."

"My– My lord?"

"Continue to distract it, and I shall work quickly to gain control of it. Is that agreeable?"

"Uh, um…" the captain stuttered. After a moment, he then turned to the crater and shouted, "Keep firing! Keep the target suppressed!"

Nazmul grinned at this agreement. The men continued their attack on the Megalith, which showed no signs of slowing down or true injury. Nazmul walked up to the side of the crater and looked down at the Megalith.

"Magnificent… simply magnificent."

Nazmul then looked down at the cube in his hands, and then turned to look at the Megalith once again as it struggled. He then released the cube and it floated in front of him. Nazmul then began chanting. What he was saying was unclear, but it was in an ancient magical dialect. As he chanted, the cube began to glow an eerie green aura.

The Megalith struck one of its claws down on another trio of men, crushing all three of them. It then hesitated as it listened to the ancient dialect being chanted behind it. It realized the threat and turned toward Nazmul. The beast roared and breathed a large stream of energy at Nazmul. Nazmul's concentration did not break, however, as the energy stream raced toward him. As it did, a number of robed men beside him cast a series of shield stones. _Vanguard Aegis!_ A powerful energy wall emerged in front of Nazmul, blocking the Megalith's attack, but just barely. The shield was greatly weakened by the attack.

"My lord, we cannot hold it back much longer!" one of the robed men said.

Nazmul did not respond, but kept on chanting. As he did, the Megalith roared and began to march toward him. The soldiers on the side continued to fire their blasters, but it had no effect. The Megalith's body began to grind against the sides of the crater, forcing men nearby it to flee or be crushed. The men around Nazmul began to flee as the Megalith neared him. As it reared over him, the Megalith roared as it gazed down on the Wizard with its great eyes. At this point, Nazmul had stopped chanting and looked up at the Megalith. He did not waver under the beast's intimidating presence.

"Sigils of Power, bind this ancient creature to me." Nazmul shouted. "Great Megalith, now be mine to command!"

As he finished, the cube shone with a brilliant light. As it did, the Megalith screeched, seemingly in pain. It began thrashing around, destroying everything around it. The soldiers fled to avoid being crushed by the beast's legs. Nazmul, however, did not move, but his gaze remained fixed on the Megalith.

As the Megalith thrashed around, its central eye began to glow. As it did, a Henge of Altas and Infinis began to form in its center eye. Soon, the Henge completely filled in, and the Megalith stopped its thrashing. It then looked down at Nazmul and growled. Its central eye was emblazoned with a Henge of Altas and Infinis. The Megalith was under Nazmul's control.

"Yes! YES! YES!!"

Nazmul began to laugh maniacally as the Megalith roared. The sound of its roar pierced the sky, and seemed to cause the land to tremble.

--

Atop a small forest cliff, Crea shrieked as she bolted upright. She breathed heavily, still in shock from the nightmare. She was not expecting such a dream, as her usual one was of the Megalith's sealing with in the White Stones. This time, she had seen its subjugation under Nazmul's control.

As Crea continued to gasp for air, she looked at her hand. Nothing was wrong with her physically, but she had almost expected there to be something wrong with her.

"What… what the hell was that?" she muttered to herself. "What was that dream?"

What had happened in the dream was clear to Crea, but she didn't know what it meant to her. She didn't know what her connection to the Megalith was yet, even though she had contacted it through the Dako Pure Stone, or as she called it, the White Stone of Chaos.

Maybe that dream had been connected to her contact with the Megalith. Maybe she was seeing things from its point of view. But why was she seeing such things? What did the Megalith's memories have to do with her own?

Crea pushed herself up and checked herself for injury. She had just unexpectedly lost a battle with the Di-Gata Defenders, and although she was infuriated by the loss, she owed part of the loss to her own overconfidence. As she mulled that fact over, Crea assured herself that she wouldn't make such a mistake again. That is, if she ever faced the Defenders again…

As she continued to inspect herself, she touched her forehead, and then realized something. "Something… something's different… inside of me," Crea said to herself.

She couldn't tell what it was, but undoubtedly, something had changed inside of her. Crea then remembered her contact with the Megalith and that she had interacted with it in some way. It must have altered something inside of her.

As Crea pondered this over, she suddenly sensed a very strange energy signature off in the distance. She turned southwest, but could not see the source of the energy. But even though she could not see the source, it felt familiar to her. It felt like the energy the Megalith radiated, only somewhat different. The energy seemed more fragmented and as though it had only been in that direction briefly.

"Hmm… I guess that will have to wait," Crea said, her mind still partly on what might have changed in her. Figuring that out would have to come later.

Crea began to walk forward and eventually tipped over the side of the cliff. As she fell, blue lights surrounded her and she vanished into thin air.

--

Deep within a large crater, a large, strange machine stood in the middle. It certainly was of unique design, but its purpose was a mystery. It appeared quite damaged, though, as if something or someone had tried to break it. All around it, there was a lot of wreckage, as though a battle had taken place around it.

Crea warped into the area and looked around the area. She saw the machine in the middle of the canyon and instantly recognized it as the mechanism from her first dream.

"This is the machine used to seal the Megalith away. But… why did I sense the energies of the White Stones from this machine? They're not here, but still… I sensed them."

Crea walked up to the machine and looked at its control panel. She had no idea how the machine worked; let alone what to do with it. She touched the control panel and, as she did, the machine sparked as it short-circuited. The effect startled Crea, but not enough to scare her.

"Hmm… useless… but it's been used recently. Maybe…"

As she was pondering, Crea suddenly heard a loud roaring behind her. Alerted, she turned to see a number of strange monstrous creatures, each with four claw-like legs and looking as though they were born from rock itself. Clearly they were not natural creatures, and they were clearly hostile.

"Hmm, good. A little target practice."

Crea raised a hand to one of the creatures and they instantly began rushing at her. A blast flew from Crea's outstretched hand and obliterated one of the creatures, but the rest began to close in on her quickly. One of the creatures stabbed one of its claws at Crea, but she jumped away from it, landing away from the machine.

One of the creatures rushed at her immediately and thrust its two front claws at Crea, but she caught them in her hands.

As the beast struggled to crush her, Crea said, "This certainly is new… a big living rock that wants to kill me. But still, a rock is a rock."

Crea then shut her eyes and her hands began to glow golden. The creature screeched as it began to lose its color as Crea drained the energy from its body. Soon, the creature stopped moving and had lost its color. As Crea released the creature's claws, she jumped up and flipped backwards as she kicked it, shattering the rock monster. Crea landed neatly on the ground.

As she did, one of the creatures swung a claw that struck behind her unexpectedly. Crea staggered away from it for a moment and looked toward the monster. Almost instantly the creature was swinging at her again and she could not react to it in time. The strike landed in Crea's shoulder and she cried in pain from the blow. The creature continued to apply pressure to the wound, which only further increased the pain Crea was feeling.

"You're really starting to piss me off, you know that?!" she snarled.

Crea raised her free arm to the creature's claw and attempted to push it away from her shoulder. Suddenly, her arm began to glow with an unfamiliar pattern. Almost ignoring her pain, Crea removed her arm from the creature's claw and looked at it to see a blade made of pure energy begin to form around her arm. She had no idea what was happening; this wasn't an ability she knew she had. But then again, it wasn't unwelcome either.

Crea looked at the creature and smiled confidently. She thrust the blade into the monster's head, and it groaned as it slumped lifelessly backwards. Crea withdrew her blade as the monster fell to the ground. As the monster fell, its claw exited Crea's shoulder, to which she grunted in pain. Crea then looked to see more of the monsters rushing at her. She raised her new blade to them and rushed at the creatures. As each one attempted to strike her, she sliced through them, destroying each one with a single stroke of her blade. Soon, there were none left.

As Crea looked at the destruction she had caused, the blade around her arm receded. She then looked at her shoulder to see a sort of crystalline formation imbedded in her shoulder. Finding the crystal very painful, Crea reached her hand to it and began to pull on it. She grunted as she ripped the crystal from her shoulder, which left a wound in her arm that shed blue particles. She tossed the crystal aside, which shattered as it hit the ground, and held her wound. As she did, several green lights enclosed on the wound and began to patch it up. Crea breathed heavily until the wound closed.

"Hmm… Interesting new toy," Crea said, thinking back to the blade she had just used. "I wonder what else is new."

She then heard another roar and looked to see another group of the monsters streaming toward her. She glared at them, then raised a hand and pointed two fingers at a row of the monsters. Energy began to channel through her fingertips and then a thin, long bolt of energy shot forward at the creatures. It struck the first one and pierced right through it, and then continued on through the next one… and the next… and the one after that. The attack kept going through the monsters in a straight line, piercing through them with no effort. Each monster that was struck was destroyed by the attack.

"Cool."

She then extended her other hand and from her fingertips her glowing golden threads appeared. She then rushed forward at the crowd of monsters.

--

Atop the ridge of the crater where Crea was still fighting, a small reptilian bird flew onto a small ledge and looked down at the scene. Suddenly, the bird began to change its shape, into what looked like a green snake woman. It was Kali, Nazmul's shape-shifting Mortigarian spy. She looked down at Crea as she fought the stone monsters with a look of intrigue. Crea was winning, easily.

"Well, well, isn't this a surprise?" Kali muttered to herself.

The agent then pulled out a small device from her pack, which extended into a cylindrical device. Soon, a figure appeared in the middle of the cylinder screen. The figure looked as though it were mostly mechanical, but had a horrifying skull with green eyes as a head. It was Nazmul, the master of the Order of Infinis and the Megalith's master.

"Lord Nazmul," Kali said, "I've just arrived in the Spell Zone to investigate the strange energy source we detected."

"Have you confirmed its source?" the skeletal figure replied.

"Yes, my lord. See for yourself."

Kali turned the cylinder to face the battle below. The instant Nazmul saw Crea – who was in the middle of slicing a monster in half with an energy blade – his face turned to surprise.

"WHAT?! Impossible! She should be dead!"

"I believed so as well, my lord. But what I am seeing right now says otherwise."

"Hmm… It seems I may have underestimated her will to survive."

Nazmul paused for a moment. He knew Crea's capabilities better than anyone else.

"I wish to watch her present capabilities. Hold your position here, Kali."

"Yes, my lord."

--

Down below in the canyon, one of the few monsters remaining leaped at Crea from behind. She whipped around and thrust a hand at it. As her palm struck, a burst of energy blew the monster to pieces. Two more of the monsters ran at Crea side by side, but she swung her other arm at them, quickly forming an energy blade around her arm, and sliced them in two in a single stroke. The blade then receded.

She then heard a roar behind her and looked to see another rock monster behind her. It then shot an energy blast from its mouth at her. Crea raised a hand to the blast and a barrier appeared before it. The blast struck the barrier harmlessly, after which the barrier receded.

Crea then looked at the monster and taunted, "I'm sorry, did you want something?"

As she finished, she closed her hand in a fist and from the top of her wrist came a spiraling blue beam of energy, which remained connected to her wrist as it flew forward. It was like a chain made of energy, with a pulsating blue ball at its end. The beam struck the monster and broke through its carapace, but it did not destroy the monster. Rather, the beam anchored onto the rock monster.

"Well you got my attention!"

Crea quickly wrapped her hand around the chain and yanked the chain back hard. The monster flew off the ground, careening at her. Crea then raised her other arm and thrust it into the rock monster just before it hit her. A blast of energy left her hand and blew the monster to pieces.

Crea whistled as she watched the pieces fall to the ground then looked at the chain-like beam connected to her wrist. It was still at its full length, but coiled along the ground as though it were actually a chain. Crea then raised her hand and the chain withdrew into her wrist.

"This'll come in handy."

Crea looked around her; there were no more of the creatures. Or so she thought. She heard another roaring sound and looked up at the crater's ridge to see more of the monsters pouring over the side.

"Damn it… this is getting really old," Crea said disdainfully.

Crea then noticed that several of the monsters were not charging at her, but stayed at the crater's ridge, as though guarding it. She then heard a loud screeching sound coming from above the crater wall.

"They're like a colony. Then there's a queen."

Crea formed two blades around her arms and started running toward the crater's rim, cutting through the crowd of monsters rushing at her with ease. Soon she reached the top of the crater wall and looked down to see another horde of the rock creatures, numbering at least fifty.

Crea's attention then turned to a particularly large monster floating shortly above the horde. It had a grotesque, crustacean-like head and a beak with sharp mandibles that looked as though they could tear prey to shreds in an instant. Most of its body was a large conical shell, with its head protruding from it. Its eight arms were long tendrils, with pincer-like claws at their ends, and its entire body seemed to be made of gray stone. And in the middle of its forehead it had a large glowing orange eye. It looked a giant squid mixed with a lobster, only much more grotesque.

The monster did not at first see Crea, but thrust four of its massive claws into the ground. In the area where the claws struck, there was a green glow and the ground moved around them. As the monster raised its claws, four more of the monsters emerged from the holes. Crea watched with fascination, as well as to her chagrin.

"The queen, I'm guessing?" Crea said, as though addressing the crustacean-like monster. "Your rule is at an end today."

The horde queen looked over at Crea and gave off an earsplitting screech as it stretched its arms out. As it did, its minions began to charge at Crea. As they did, Crea withdrew her blades and raised her hands to the minions. Bursts of energy flew from her hands, destroying groups at a time. Soon, the only things that were left were Crea and the horde queen.

"Just you and me now," Crea smirked.

The queen let off another screech and started floating toward Crea. As it neared her, it thrust one of its arms at her with incredible speed. Crea jumped over the strike, narrowly avoiding it. As she flew through the air, Crea brought her hands together and fired a blast at the queen. The queen quickly positioned four of its arms and blocked the attack with its claws, with no visible damage caused. As Crea landed, the queen thrust the four claws at her, attempting to crush her. Crea jumped back and the blow missed. However, the force of the blow jerked Crea slightly, and she stumbled as she landed. Crea raised her hands to the queen and fired several energy bursts at it. As the blasts flew through the air, the queen withdrew its head and claws into its shell, with only the claws showing, covering the opening. The blasts struck the shell and claws, but fizzled out, causing no damage.

"Crap…" Crea growled.

Crea looked at the monster. She knew why the attack hadn't worked: the monster's shell seemed to be covered in protective Henges. It was obviously Sigil-hardened. Also, its claws were covered in Dako Sigils; clearly they were made of Dakocite, a unique ore that was difficult to break, even for her. Because of this, Crea would have a lot of trouble trying to harm the monster. However, Crea also noted that the rest of the queen's body was made of other ores. Clearly, it wouldn't be as resilient in those areas.

The queen moved its claws out of its shell and its head protruded from it. It then growled as it angled its head forward and its eye began to shimmer with energy. It then fired a massive beam at Crea, who dived to the side, avoiding the attack. The beam struck the ground with a massive explosion, one Crea was grateful to avoid. As Crea landed, she formed a blade around her arm and charged at the queen. She leaped into the air and readied her blade to slice into the queen. Just before Crea struck, the queen swung a pair of its claws to the side. The blow connected with Crea and she crashed to the ground. As the queen turned to where Crea had landed, she slowly got to her feet, her body releasing blue particles from her wounds. As Crea rose, green lights began sealing up the wounded parts of her body. As she stood up, her body had finished repairing itself.

"Oh, you've done it now, you bitch…"

Crea looked back at the queen, and to her surprise the monster was already thrusting a pair of its claws at her. Crea's arms glowed as she raised them and caught the claws in her hands. Though Crea stood strong, the queen slowly pushed her backwards toward the crater ridge wall. As Crea struggled to hold back the queen, the monster screeched as it raised its mouth. Crea looked just in time to see another energy beam fly at her. In a quick movement, Crea pushed the claws to the side and leapt over the blast. As she flew in the air, Crea formed a blade around her arm. As she dropped toward the ground, Crea swung the blade at the tendril portions of three of the queen's arms, severing them as she passed. The queen screeched in pain and reared back, its remaining arms flailing about. As Crea landed, she brought her hands together and fired a flurry of energy bolts at the queen. The bolts struck the queen's body and it screeched as several sections of its undefended carapace were blasted off.

Crea stopped firing after a moment. A cloud of dust surrounded the queen, but Crea could still see the monster's massive claws moving. She had clearly wounded the queen, at the very least. The cloud soon cleared. The queen had several parts of its carapace cracked and broken, and a two more arms had been severed. Several of its mandibles were gone as well, and it had damaged one of its yellow eyes. Lastly, its orange eye had a crack running through it. Crea glared at the monster as it screeched again at her.

"Still alive…?" Crea sighed. "You're starting to become real annoying. Huh?"

Crea noticed at that moment that in the middle of the queen's orange eye, there was a small green glow. The queen roared as its severed arms began to lengthen. Soon, the arms were at full length, and new claws formed at the ends. As the claws finished regenerating, Crea snarled.

"Now you're really pissing me off."

The queen screeched again and thrust a series of strikes at Crea. She dodged them all and then fired a blast back at the queen. It withdrew into its shell quickly and the attack caused no damage.

"That's just a real pain in the—"

The queen then thrust a pair of claws at Crea directly out of its shell. Crea jumped over the attack, but almost instantly four more claws flew at Crea and struck her simultaneously. Crea screamed as she flew back and crashed into the crater's ridge. Crea groaned as she tried to push herself up. Her body was crackling with unstable energy and her body had several wounds that were leaking blue particles. But this time, there were no green lights, and Crea's wounds were not healing.

"Grrgh, shit…!" Crea growled, "Why now?!"

Crea knew at that point she had a serious problem on her hands. She didn't have enough energy at this point to regenerate, and the queen was still a severe threat. That, and since she was low on energy, Crea couldn't teleport away. If she didn't do something soon, she would probably be killed.

As Crea attempted to push herself up, the queen began dragging itself toward Crea, looking to finish her off. Crea got to her feet and looked up at the giant monster. It looked at her with its central eye and the eye began to crackle with energy. It was about to fire again.

"It's… not… over… yet!"

Crea raised a hand to the monster and pointed two fingers at it. An energy field formed around her hand and then a slim energy bolt forth from her fingers. The queen raised its claws to block the shot from hitting its torso. The beam hit the claws and smashed right through them in an instant, breaking them apart. The beam then struck the queen's body and it screeched as the blast went through it and came out the other side of its shell. As the queen reeled back from the blow, it fired the beam into the air harmlessly. It continued to flail its broken arms around for a moment and fell to the ground with a crash. The queen's arms slumped as it painfully moaned.

As Crea looked on at the monster her attention turned to its orange eye. It was radiating a strange energy; Crea realized that it could be a potential weak point. Crea staggered forward, the pain of her wounds making her slow, but the queen could not move to stop her. As Crea reached the queen she stepped up on its body and looked into the cracked orange eye. Inside the eye, there was a glowing green crystal, as well as what looked like electronic circuitry and wiring.

"This… this thing is a machine. It's man-made…"

Crea reached into the eye and grabbed the crystal firmly with both hands. As she pulled on the crystal, the queen screeched loudly and it began flailing its arms and trying to swing its head around to throw Crea off. Crea, however, held on and continued to pull at the crystal.

"GRRRHH, JUST DIE ALREADY!!"

As Crea shouted, her arms began to glow in patterns as the rest of her body crackled with energy. The crystal then came loose and Crea flew back from the force of its release and fell to the ground. As she looked back up at the queen, she saw it flailing about in agony, its orange eye surging with energy. Soon, glowing cracks began forming all over the queen's body and shell. It let out one last earsplitting screech, and then its body exploded tremendously. Crea quickly raised a hand to the blast and a barrier appeared, protecting her from the explosion as well as several rock fragments. Soon the blast subsided, and Crea looked back at where the queen once was. All that was left of it were a few piles of smoldering rock.

Crea then looked at the crystal in her hand. It was fairly large, but what puzzled Crea was that it looked mostly man-made, like the queen. Several Sigils adorned it in a manner that clearly wasn't natural. Also, it didn't look as though the crystal were actually part of the machine. It looked like it was part of something else. But all that mattered to Crea was that she had destroyed the queen.

Crea sighed and said, "To think this thing caused so much trouble for me. I've half a mind to— AGH! AHH!"

At that moment, Crea felt an intense pain run through her as her body sparked violently with untamed energy. She clutched a hand to her side and rolled on her side in pain. Crea was particularly worried about this; she had used up far too much power killing the monster, and feared that it would be the end of her.

"D– Damn it…!"

Suddenly, the green crystal in Crea's hand began to glow. She looked at it with curiosity, and then suddenly a strange feeling swept through her. It was almost as though her body were resonating with the crystal. The crystal then shone with a brilliant golden light and reformed into a golden sphere. The sphere then split into many small lights and they began swirling around Crea. All of a sudden, Crea felt her pain disappear as her body glowed in a strange pattern and the lights began to enter her body. As they did, her body shone with a bright light. As the last of the lights entered, there was a brief flash of light, which quickly receded.

A few seconds passed before Crea slowly got to her feet. She took a moment to inspect her body; she had some of her energy restored, but not to maximum. Still, it was enough for the moment.

"What the hell was that all about?"

Crea continued to look at herself; the wounds on her body were gone. But that was not what Crea was thinking about. Something was different in her. She had just figured out the changes from her contact with the Megalith, but now she had some new power from defeating the rock monster queen. But something was certain to her: she felt stronger than before.

Just at that moment, Crea heard a roar behind her and turned to see another one of the rock monsters swinging a claw at her. Just before it struck her, it hit a dim light that surrounded Crea. The attack seemed to slow down, but the light did not stop the blow from striking her in the chest. Crea cursed as she staggered backwards, then quickly countered with an energy burst and destroyed the monster with one shot.

Crea growled and said, "Must've missed one."

She then looked down at her chest where the monster had hit her. To her surprise, there was no injury; she only felt slightly sore from the blow. The barrier around her seemed to have softened the blow, even though it did not stop it. But what puzzled Crea was that the barrier wasn't of her accord; the attack was too close for her to do anything in time. Maybe her body had activated automatically…

"Interesting."

--

At that moment, Kali and Nazmul watched Crea with keen interest.

"Very impressive," Nazmul's projection said.

"Quite the weapon, isn't she?" Kali replied. "Though I half-expected her to lose."

"And yet she continues to surprise me."

Nazmul's curiosity had been piqued by what he had just seen. He knew a great deal about Crea, but despite all he knew he continued to be surprised by her.

"She has improved immensely since I last saw her," Nazmul continued. "Quite curious, actually."

"What shall I do about her then, my lord?" Kali said.

"Leave that to me. For now, you are to continue your pursuit of the Defenders. They present a greater threat to my plans then she does."

"By your command, Lord Nazmul."

Kali shut off the communicator in her hand and it receded into its compact form. After she put it away, she then changed back into her bird form and flew away to continue hunting the Di-Gata Defenders.

--

Several minutes later, Crea returned to the machine in the crater. She then walked around it, continuing to search for anything that might help her remember her past. There was nothing.

"This machine was in my first dream. The Defenders and those men used it to seal the Megalith away in the four White Stones. But… why was I drawn here? And was it worth it, nearly dying?"

Inside her head, Crea began to ponder the events that had happened to her recently. The seizure she had in the village near Altamor, her contact with the Megalith when she touched the White Stone of Chaos, the new dream about the Megalith, and her new powers. They all had something to do with her past.

It was then that something in Crea's head suddenly clicked.

"My… my power… I remember now."

Crea didn't know how the memory had come to her, but wasn't too concerned as to such a point. Her main focus was the memory itself; she remembered her main power, the power to assimilate abilities from other sources. She couldn't remember all the details, but the gist of it had come back to her.

"Hmm… as long as I have that in mind…"

Crea then turned away from the machine. As she did, a number of small lights began to form around her. Soon, the lights formed into a flowing red cloak, which neatly wrapped itself around Crea's body. Her last one had been destroyed during her battle with the Di-Gata Defenders, and although it was just decorative Crea liked how it made her seem distinctive.

Crea then looked up at the sun as it set on the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, but Crea had other things on her mind. She was then surrounded by blue lights and vanished into thin air.

--

Back in Yin-Tos, Nazmul, who was seated next to a computer console, tapped a few buttons on it. After a moment, an image sprung up on a screen in front of him. It seemed like a set of documents, but had on its top right corner a picture of Crea.

"Crea…" Nazmul said to himself. "You certainly are a curiosity."

As Nazmul looked through the file on his screen, he did not notice a figure in his doorway. It was a man in a warlord's outfit with white balding hair. It was Brackus, Nazmul's treacherous advisor and head of the Yintos armies. He had seen the whole spectacle through the projection on Nazmul's screen, and Crea's power astonished him. Brackus thought to himself that if he were able to control the girl, Nazmul would quickly fall before him. It would be terribly risky to attempt such a feat, though.

Brackus grinned, then turned and quietly left the room.

**END OF CHAPTER 4**

I'd appreciate reviews if at all possible.


	5. Legacy

Here's the fifth chapter. I think I know why no one was leaving reviews: I accidentally wasn't allowing anonymous reviewers. Oops...

Anyhow, enjoy this chapter.

**CHAPTER 5: LEGACY**

Storm clouds brewed above a large set of mountains in Infinor. Lightning crackled through the sky and the rain poured down ceaselessly. As the lightning crackled, a screech sounded through the mountain passes.

Up above the mountains, the massive form of a golden Thunderbird swooped overhead. It had on its forehead the Altas Sigil, the Sigil of Balance. It screeched again as it dove down at a mountaintop where a blue-haired girl stood. As the Thunderbird continued its dive, it screeched and its body began to crackle with electrical energy. It raised its two massive talons and lunged at the girl, but she moved to the side, floating shortly above the ground. The bird flew back upwards as the girl turned and looked on at her adversary.

"You know, this would be a lot easier," Crea snarled, "if you'd just hold still for a second…"

Crea raised her hands to the Thunderbird and fired a number of small pulses from them. As they flew at the bird it banked to the side and the barrage passed by it. It then turned and looked down at Crea and screeched again. As it did lightning rained down from the sky and the bolts streamed directly at Crea. She lifted her hands to the bolts and seemed to catch them in her hands.

Crea grunted as the electricity coursed through her body. She could hold the power for a little while, but if she didn't release it soon it would likely cause her great harm. Fighting through the pain of the electrical shock, she quickly thrust her hands into the stone crest beneath her feet. She then sent the electrical energy into the stone, which grounded it, and the pain subsided. For a short moment, small columns of smoke rose from Crea's body; she was slightly singed, but otherwise unharmed.

Crea panted for a moment then said smugly, "If I had known this guy was going to be this much trouble, I would've brought an umbrella."

Crea stood back up and looked on as the Thunderbird prepared to take another pass at her.

"Probably should've brought one anyways," Crea commented, taking notice that her long blue hair was plastered along her body, completely soaked.

Crea ran a hand through her hair, squeezing out a large amount of water. However, the water seemed to wrap itself around her hand, which seemed to glow a faint blue. After a sizeable amount of water engulfed Crea's hand, it began to change in form, turning to a javelin of ice in her hand.

"Nah, scratch that."

Crea twirled the javelin around in her hand, and then looked back at the Thunderbird. The monster screeched as it flew down, its talons outstretched. Crea raised the javelin and threw it at the bird. The javelin struck home, hitting the Thunderbird in the wing. The javelin shattered as it impacted and embedded several shards of ice into its wing. Soon after the shards stuck themselves into the Thunderbird's wing, they began to encase the wing in a sheet of ice. The bird screeched in pain and pulled out of its dive. It then slowly began to descend, its flight somewhat wobbly from its wing being frozen. As it landed on the mountaintop the Thunderbird began flexing its frozen wing, cracking the ice. A moment later, the ice sheet shattered and the Thunderbird's wing was free. Crea readied herself for whatever her foe might try next.

"Bring it on, dumbass!"

Almost instantly, the Thunderbird screeched at Crea and aimed its beak at her. As it opened its beak again, a stream of electrical energy surged forward from its mouth, wrecking the mountaintop in a wide conical spread. Crea raised her arms and a barrier formed around her in a dome. The lightning struck the dome, but caused little damage. As the lightning wave passed, Crea lowered the barrier and set her arms to her sides, her hands spread open. A pair of rings of energy formed in Crea's hands, and she held onto them as they finished forming. She then tossed both of them at the Thunderbird, and they struck the bird's wings, cutting into them. However, the blades only hit the rims of its wings, causing little damage.

The bird screeched in pain, but quickly readied itself again to attack, its injury being only minor. It then spread its wings and started flapping them at Crea, creating a massive gust of wind. Crea raised her arms to the wind, but the force of the current blew her off her feet and sent her dragging on her back across the mountaintop. As she dragged across the ground, Crea slammed her fists into the ground and a large column of rock jetted up behind her. Crea slammed into the rock, but was relatively unharmed; the rock had been slanted to soften the impact. As the wind continued to blow past Crea, she braced her arms on the rock behind her and slowly righted herself. As she stood up, the rock angled itself, compensating for Crea's position. As Crea finished standing, the stone had completely angled itself upwards.

Crea looked on at the Thunderbird as it continued to flap its wings at her. To her, the bird was starting to become a real annoyance, but she hadn't come up to such a high altitude for nothing. She was planning on claiming the Thunderbird's powers of electricity; though she could channel electrical energy herself, she couldn't control it properly or create it herself. Such a power would complement her newer abilities quite well.

Crea raised her hands to the sky, as if trying to catch the rain that continued to fall. The water seemed to veer toward her hands and massed around her arms. As the water surrounded her arms it turned to ice. Crea then directed her arms at the Thunderbird and the ice flew forward in a flurry of ice shards, which seemed to shimmer with a white light. The shards struck the bird's wings, exploding in showers of ice as they struck and embedding the shards in its golden feathers. The Thunderbird screeched in pain as its wings began to freeze, with some of the ice even covering its chest. The wind died down almost instantly. The Thunderbird began to shake about, trying to break the ice.

Crea spread her hands to her sides in fists and they began to glow in a deep red pattern. Almost instantly afterwards, flames surrounded her hands, yet they did not burn her, nor did the pouring rain extinguish them. She then thrust one of her hands at the Thunderbird and the flames streamed forward. The stream struck the bird's chest and it screamed in agony as the flames engulfed its body. Crea then thrust her other hand at the bird and a large fireball flew at the Thunderbird in an arc. The fireball exploded as it struck, scorching the Thunderbird and sending it crashing to the ground on its front, the ice surrounding it shattering as it hit the ground. The bird screeched softly and painfully, and then fell silent.

Crea knew the flames had not finished off the bird, and she walked over to its limp body. Upon reaching it, she looked down at the Thunderbird for a moment, and then raised an arm and a blade appeared surrounding it. She then thrust the blade at the Thunderbird's neck.

A crash of lightning sounded as Crea struck, signaling the Thunderbird's death. After a moment, the rain stopped and the lightning stopped. The clouds remained, however.

Crea pulled her blade out of the Thunderbird, which lay deceased before her. She withdrew the blade from her hand. She then laid a hand on the bird's form and said, "I certainly hope you were worth the trouble. That took quite an effort."

Crea shut her eyes and began to focus her power on the Thunderbird's form. She had done this before to get her powers over water, fire and earth, and now she was about to claim lightning. Crea's body began to glow in a pattern, her eyes shone a white light and her hands shimmered with a golden glow. As she glowed, the Thunderbird's body also began to glow a white light. Soon, its whole body turned into a golden glow and the Thunderbird's body began to dematerialize, turning to several small gold lights that began to swirl around Crea. As the lights swirled in their dance, Crea spread her arms and the lights began entering her body. As the last lights entered Crea, a flash of light shone from her body and quickly receded.

Crea took a deep breath, and raised a hand before her face as she opened her eyes. She looked at it, and it crackled with electrical energy. She then swung her arm at the rock spire she had erected earlier and a bolt of lightning left her fingertips. The bolt blew the rock to pieces. Crea looked at the destruction for a moment, impressed by the destructive power she had just unleashed.

"Well then, I guess that was worth the effort."

Crea lifted her arm to the sky, wishing to further experiment with her new power over lightning. As she positioned her arm, it began to glow with a greenish yellow pattern. As they glowed, an electrical field began to swirl around Crea, and the sky above began to once again crackle with lightning. The lightning surrounding Crea began to rocket skyward and then, a moment after entering the clouds, lighting rained down erroneously in a volley around Crea. The lightning wrecked the area around Crea, much to her satisfaction. She liked watching her new power at work, quickly seeing its potential.

Crea lowered her arm, and then realized something else seemed different in her. She felt as though she had gained more than just the powers of lightning. At that moment she felt a slight breeze pass through her hair. It was very cold, considering she had just been drenched by rain. It then occurred to her: perhaps she had control over wind as well. There was only one way to find out for sure.

Crea shut her eyes and peered deep into her mind. This was a method she used for finding out about any of her newer powers. Fortunately, she had done this before, so it was safe. As she focused, she saw images flash through her mind, showing her what she needed to know.

She opened her eyes and said, "Interesting. Two birds for one."

Crea raised a hand, which began to glow with a green pattern. A small cyclone began to form in front of her and streamed forward. The cyclone sent large amounts of rubble on the mountaintop scattering.

Crea chuckled slightly and said, "That could be useful."

She then raised another hand and thrust her palm into the ground. As she touched the ground, a cyclone began to whirl around her violently, sending stones and debris all around her scattering. The cyclone expanded after a moment, and then vanished, sending debris every which way. Crea did not move for a moment, but stood up shortly afterwards.

That fact that she had gained two new powers from the Thunderbird came off as intriguing to Crea. Normally she was used to only gaining one power from defeating her enemies. It was the case for a few prior fights, where she had gained the abilities to control fire, water and earth. Those fights were somewhat troublesome, but they were a means to an end. She had become much stronger through her victories. And yet, still, she wanted to continue becoming stronger. She couldn't understand why; it was just a kind of instinct she had to follow.

As Crea continued to ponder this fact, she did not notice a small floating eyeball lurking near her. Its large eye narrowed as it watched her, as though some unknown force were observing her.

Nearby, on a cliff below the mountaintop, a hooded figure in a sort of assassin's outfit looked on at an orb that showed what the eye was viewing. He watched as Crea turned to look off in a new direction.

Through the screen Crea's image said, "The hunt continues…" Blue lights then surrounded Crea and she vanished. A moment after Crea had gone the eye that had watched her also disappeared in a wisp of black smoke.

Back on the cliff, the man continued to stare into the orb, which was now blank. After a moment, a dense set of clouds seemed to form inside the orb, and after a moment, a three figures in black hooded robes appeared in the orb. They were arranged like a sort of council.

"My masters," the cloaked agent said, "I have witnessed the power of the destroyer. She is a truly remarkable being, gaining strength from her spoils of victory. But presently she is nothing in comparison to the Megalith."

"That is unfortunate," said one of the hooded beings in a deep, inhuman voice. "We expected the successor to be… stronger."

"But given time," a second one said, "she may become quite formidable. She may exceed the power of her brood father."

"Continue in your pursuit of the successor," the third figure said. "And may the darkness of the Ethos guide your path."

"By your will, my masters," the agent said.

The orb began to swirl with dark clouds again, and then it went blank. The agent lifted the orb and it vanished in his hand. He then swept his cloak around him, and vanished.

--

Later that day, Crea warped into a set of forest near the settlement of Arboth. She looked around the area, looking for any signs of life other than the trees. After a moment, she felt a slight shocking sensation run through her body and winced in pain. She had been teleporting around a little too much, and it was starting to drain her.

Crea sighed and said, "I really hate having to do this all the time."

Crea laid her hand on a nearby tree and her hands glowed golden. Her hands began leeching energy from the tree as it began to lose its color and the Sigils adorning it began to fade. Soon, Crea stopped the process and the tree toppled over. As it crashed to the ground, the tree fell to pieces, sending small wood fragments sprawling across the forest floor.

Crea looked at her hand and sighed. She hated having to resort to such a method to stay alive, not that she cared for the lives of others. If she had to take life to stay alive, it was fine with her, but she didn't like how doing so made her feel like a weakling. Other species didn't have to do this to stay alive, so why was she so different in that respect?

The sound of a snapping twig caught Crea's attention. She whipped around to the source and fired a blast at it from her hand. The blast landed in front of a set of bushes, causing a small explosion. A girl leaped out from the bushes screaming and tripped, falling on her back. Crea leapt forward at the girl and landed before her. She looked at the child contemptuously. The girl had long brown hair and was dressed in a ragged brown outfit. But when the girl opened her eyes, Crea was interested to discover that they were completely violet. The eyes had the Sigil Sum, the Sigil of Peace, marked on them.

"Care to tell me what you were doing in those bushes, kid?" Crea said. The girl did not say anything. Crea then said, "Did you not hear me? What were you doing spying on me?"

"I'm– I'm sorry," the girl said. "I was just wondering… about–"

"What I just did?" Crea interrupted. The girl nodded. "You wouldn't understand it."

"But… the tree… I saw the energy leave the tree, and enter your body. And then the tree died…"

"Huh?"

The girl continued to stare at Crea. From her point of view, Crea was a large mass of blue flames, and all eight of the Sigils lined her body. Crea's eyes were a mass of white light, and in the middle of her forehead there was a strange red glow. In the place where her heart should have been, there was a large Henge, a combination of all eight Sigils, though it was continually shifting between bright and dark colors.

"What is your name?" Crea asked.

"Maia."

"Well then, Maia, care to tell me how you knew what I had just done?"

"I can see Sigil energy, in its raw form. I can see into the hearts of others."

"I see. That's a rather interesting power you have," Crea said. Maia smiled slightly. Crea then said, "Tell me: what do you see about me? Does the sight of my power frighten you?"

"Y– Yes…" Maia said fearfully, her smile almost instantly vanishing.

"I thought so. Many who actually witness my power in battle feel the same way, at least those who live."

"L– Live? You mean—"

"Yes. I usually end up destroying those who dare to face me. So far, only a few have survived. So… what will you do? Will you flee?"

Maia did not say anything, nor did she move from her spot. She was probably too scared to do anything, let alone run.

"You must obviously think me to be some kind of monstrosity, don't you?" said Crea.

Maia did not say anything, but looked down at the ground, as though thinking back to something. Crea noticed this, which came as a sort of puzzlement to her. She had expected Maia to run away in terror, but she remained instead.

After a short pause, Maia said, "Seth thought he was a monster too, but he's not."

"Seth?"

"He's a Di-Gata Defender. He and his friends saved me and all of Arboth."

"Hmm, that sounds like him."

Crea turned away from Maia, attempting to hide a tinge of frustration from the girl. A while back, Crea had faced the Defenders before and lost; it was a severe blow to her pride.

"Are you and Seth friends?" Maia then said.

Crea paused for a moment. This was an easy question to answer, but for some reason Crea did not want to be so blunt with Maia.

"Not really," Crea replied.

"Why not?"

"Seth and I have… had our differences. I'd rather not say more than that."

The two said nothing for a moment. Then Crea said, "Tell me: what did you mean by 'Seth thought he was a monster'?"

"He thought he was a monster because he didn't feel normal. He had lost his guardian, and it merged with him. That's why he said he was a monster, but he's not."

"Is that so? That's interesting…"

"I… I need to get home…"

Maia got to her feet as she said this. Crea then said, "So now you decide to flee?"

"No! I just have to get back to the safe place before dark. That's when the monsters come out."

"You mean Arboth?"

"Yes."

"How are you so sure I'm not one of those monsters?"

"You don't look like a monster…"

Crea chuckled at this remark and said, "And how does that make you so sure? Maybe I'm disguising myself as a human!" Crea laughed at this thought.

"Your heart isn't like any monster I've ever seen," Maia said in reply.

"But it's not that of a human's, isn't it?"

"No…"

After a short pause, Crea began to walk away from Maia. As she did, Crea said, "Go on home."

"I… I don't want to go alone. The monsters could come out. Would you come with me?"

"Sorry kid, but I don't do babysitting. Besides, I've got better things to do."

Crea continued walking off and soon trees veiled the sight of Maia. After a few minutes of walking, Crea thought back to what Maia had said. The words that her energies were unlike anything Maia had seen had some value to Crea. It made Crea believe she was a one-of-a-kind.

Just then, Crea felt a number of small energy forms enter the area. She could not pinpoint their location; her power to sense Sigil energy did not allow her to locate it precisely. She however recognized what they were: Dakocite Wolves. She was sure she'd have no trouble with them, but then something clicked into her mind. They weren't after her.

--

Back in another part of the forest, Maia cautiously walked through the forest. The night was starting to become cold, and she started shivering as she walked. She was still shaken up a bit by her encounter with Crea, but she had been through worse.

Suddenly, she heard a number of growls behind her and instantly she recognized the sound. They were Dakocite Wolves, and they were coming after her. She turned around and saw five wolves running right at her. Terrified, Maia began to run, sprinting over tree roots and rocks for dear life. After a about a minute of running, she turned around to see the wolves still coming at her. Her leg struck a root, and Maia screamed as she fell face-forward and tumbled into a ditch. Maia tried to push herself up, but turned as the wolves came to the top of the ditch. As one of them rushed down and bared its fangs, she screamed.

At that moment, a bolt of lightning struck the Dakocite Wolf in the side, frying it instantly. It crumpled to the ground in front of Maia, who watched in amazement. She looked to the source of the bolt, and saw Crea, who had two fingers extended and whose hand sparked slightly with lightning. Crea stood still for a moment, but turned upon hearing the snarls of the other wolves. At least five more wolves had joined the pack and they charged at Crea. Crea extended her hand into a palm at the wolves and a beam of energy shot forward from her outstretched palm. One of the wolves was killed by the blast. Crea fired another blast and another wolf fell.

By now, the wolves were almost upon Crea. She withdrew her hand and thrust her other hand into the ground. As she struck the ground, a fissure of energy shot forward, causing the wolves to scatter. One of them came about and leapt at Crea, its claws and fangs ready to tear her apart. Crea whipped around and slashed a blade of energy at the wolf, felling it with one stroke. She then whipped around as another wolf jumped at her from behind and thrust a glowing fist at its head. The wolf flew back from the blow, striking a tree. The wolf slowly got up and whimpered as it ran away. Crea turned to face the remaining wolves, which growled at her menacingly. At least seven more had joined the pack, totaling twelve. Crea withdrew the blade surrounding her hand and turned to the pack.

"Trust me," Crea said in a confident tone. "This meal's not worth the effort."

Maia watched in wonder as Crea assumed a stance and her whole body became surrounded by a red glowing pattern. In the center of Crea's chest, the Ogama Sigil, the Sigil of Order, appeared in red. As the Sigil glowed, blazing orange and blue flames then surrounded Crea's body. The flames did not burn her, though, but seemed to dance about her body like an immolating shield. The wolves immediately were intimidated by this and backed a short distance away from Crea.

Maia almost screamed at seeing Crea surrounded by flames; from her point of view, Crea was now surrounded by powerful Sigil energies, which seemed to radiate a dark aura. Crea's heart had turned a dark red. Crea looked like some kind of demonic entity to Maia, and the girl trembled at the spectacle.

Crea strode towards the Dakocite Wolf pack, which continued to back away from her. As Crea walked through the trees, they ignited from her flaming aura, and the fire began to spread. The wolves, terrified of the fire, began to flee, yipping and whimpering as they ran. Crea smiled as they fled, and the flames surrounding her receded.

Maia looked on at Crea for a moment. The dark aura surrounding Crea had begun to recede, but traces of it still remained. However, her heart had returned to its shifting colors. Crea then turned to face Maia and saw the fear written across her face.

"Tell me, do you still think I may not be a monstrosity?" Crea asked.

Maia said nothing, but then noticed the fire behind Crea and watched it in horror. Crea turned to look at the flames, and then raised a hand. She slowly lowered her hand toward the ground, and as she did the flames began to dissipate. Soon, the flames vanished, leaving only scorch marks on the trees.

Crea then turned to Maia and said, "That better?" Again, Maia said nothing. Crea then continued, "I ask you again: do you think I'm a monster, or not?"

Maia shook her head, and then said, "I… I don't know…"

"I see…"

"You're not like the monsters. They only want to hurt people. But you saved me."

"Who says I'm not like them?" Crea replied.

"I can tell. You might look like a monster on the inside, but you're not really a monster."

"Then… what do you think I am?"

Maia hesitated for a moment, unable to answer Crea's question.

Crea then said, "Don't know, do you? You and me both… My past is a mystery to me. I've only seen bits and pieces of it, none of which have any clear meaning. Heh, it's kinda pathetic, really. I have powers beyond the wildest dreams of humanity, but where they are certain of their history, I'm left in the dark. It's probably no different between me and you."

Maia thought for a moment how to answer this. She then said, "No… It's not."

As Maia lay on the ground feeling somewhat guilty, Crea walked over to her and extended a hand to the girl. Crea then said, "I thought so. I appreciate the honesty."

Maia looked at Crea's gesture, then smiled and took Crea's hand. As she did, Crea's hand suddenly began to glow a golden aura, to both their surprise. Crea's eyes then began to glow white and a pattern appeared on her body. Maia looked at her arm and saw trails of Sigil energy leave her body and enter Crea's arm. The energy trails made their way up Crea's arm and entered her eyes. Crea felt the power enter her eyes; the sensation was somewhat painful, but it was more of a discomfort. As the energy continued to leave Maia's body, a weakness spread through her. Soon, Crea's hand and body stopped glowing, and the energy transfer stopped as well. Maia let go of Crea's hand and fell to the ground, exhausted.

Crea's eyes continued to glow and then after a moment they stopped. Crea shut her eyes at this point. When she opened them again a second later, her eyes had turned a solid dark blue. Crea looked around, surprised by what she was seeing. In her eyes, there was Sigil energy dancing all over the place. She looked at her own body and saw a large mixture of Sigil energies flowing through her, like a bloodstream. Crea was astonished by what she was seeing. She then remembered about Maia and turned to look at her. Maia appeared as a large golden mass of Sum Sigil energy. It was like looking at a golden angelic creature.

After a moment, Crea shut her eyes and looked within her mind about this new power. After discovering what she needed to know, she opened her eyes again. Her eyes were now their usual shade of lavender, with white pupils.

"Uhh…" Maia groaned. "Wha– what happened?"

Crea paused for a second, and then said, "I'm… I'm not sure, kid." As Maia looked back up at Crea, she continued, "There's a lot about myself I don't know about. Heh, I can't even remember what I am, or how I came into existence. But, I told you about that already, didn't I?"

"You– you did…" Maia said. The two said nothing for a moment, and then Maia said, "What's your name?"

"What?"

"I'd like to know what your name is. Do you have one?"

"Yeah… It's–"

At that moment, the sound of crackling thunder boomed off in the distance. The first of it startled Maia. Crea turned to the source of the sound and looked at the sky. A large mass of dark clouds seemed to be forming above the forest, but there was no rain. It looked more like an energy storm. But to Crea, the storm seemed familiar in some way. Crea then heard a loud roaring sound, coming from the storm. It was the roar of some kind of monstrosity.

It was then that she felt it: a great power, off in the direction of the storm. Crea had felt this power before, back when she had touched the White Stone of Chaos. It was the Megalith's energies.

"It– it's free… the Megalith… it has awakened!"

Crea quickly then assumed a stance and readied herself to teleport toward the storm. As she tried, though, an energy spike ran through her and she felt a sharp pain run through her body. She fell to her knees, but after a moment the energy spike passed. Crea pushed herself back up and, realizing her teleportation powers were somehow not working at the time, she began to run toward the storm.

Behind her, Maia shouted, "Hey! Wait! Come back!" Maia then began running after Crea, but Crea was much faster and soon Maia lost sight of her.

--

A great light was shining in the depths of the forest near Arboth. Nearby that light, the massive form of the Megalith loomed, having recently been freed from its imprisonment within the Pure Stones. It floated toward the great light, enraged. Down below it, Seth, Melosa, Kara and Adam stood in a circle, their backs to each other, hands held in a spell ritual. Erik was on the ground near them, unconscious. A glowing sphere of energy was in the middle of their circle. They were in the process of casting the mighty Warrior Henge spell.

The massive amount of energy from the spell was channeling through Kara's body, making her glow a golden aura. She screamed from the pain, but did not attempt to break the spell. She knew the others were depending on her to channel the spell to make it stronger, and that in doing so, she had to destroy the Megalith, even if it meant her life.

Meanwhile, in a set of trees on the other side of the clearing, Crea ran onto the scene. As she saw the Megalith's massive form, she gasped quietly in awe. She had seen the Megalith before in the White Stone of Chaos, but now the Megalith was free and in its true glory.

"Megalith…" Crea said quietly.

At that moment, she then noticed the golden glow, and turned to see the Defenders in their spell circle. At that moment, Kara screamed at the top of her lungs, and an emerald wave of energy shot forth from her body at the Megalith. The blast struck it, but the Megalith did not waver.

Crea watched the Megalith as it withstood the Warrior Henge blast, and instantly she was amazed by its power. She felt the energies of the spell the Defenders were casting, and she knew it was something she could not withstand. The fact that the Megalith was withstanding it was nothing short of astounding.

Crea then looked at the Defenders as the energies of the Warrior Henge began to backfire. The sphere in the middle of them exploded, sending Seth, Adam and Melosa flying. Kara, however, stood still, surrounded by a golden aura that was connected to the Megalith's mouth. After a moment, Kara began to lift into the air, the beam moving her toward the Megalith's great maw.

"Yes, such amazing power, Megalith," Crea said softly. "Simply amazing."

At that moment, Crea felt a huge power nearby, coming from the other Defenders. She quickly turned to see Seth holding a blue stone, which glowed brilliantly in his hand. It was a Champion Stone, and a very powerful one, from what Crea sensed.

Crea watched as Seth said, "Forgive me, Kara!" He then cast the Champion Stone. _Nova Henge!_ A massive blue ball of energy flew up at the Megalith.

Crea watched the blue sphere fly, and then realized something. Seth wasn't casting the spell at the Megalith; he was casting it at Kara! The spell struck Kara, who cringed as the energies entered her body. Crea then fully understood what was happening: Kara's body was amplifying the already impressive power of the blast, combining it with the energies of the first spell. The energies were climbing to levels unlike anything Crea had ever felt, and were even stronger than the Megalith's power.

"No…" Crea gasped.

At that moment, a huge wave of energy spread out from Kara's body in an explosion. The blast engulfed the Megalith, and blew back the Defenders. The blast then approached Crea.

"NOOOOOO!!" Crea screamed as the wave struck her. Crea flew back and crashed into a set of trees, which toppled down in a pile on top of her.

After a few seconds, a blast of energy blew away the debris on top of Crea. She quickly jumped up and looked toward the clearing, fearing the worst. As she looked, her heart sank. Lying in the middle of the clearing was the corpse of the Megalith. It was dead.

Crea could not believe what she was seeing. The Megalith was the one key to her past. She was connected to it somehow, but she didn't know how. But now that the Megalith was gone, she felt she would never discover who she was. Crea fell to her knees and continued to stare at the Megalith. She continued to tremble in sorrow, and tears came to her eyes. The Defenders did not see her in the trees as she wept, but she barely made a sound with her sobs.

After a moment, small lights began to rise up from the Megalith's body. Surprised, Crea watched as the energies rose, and then seemed to enter the ground. Crea continued to watch this phenomenon for a few seconds, even though it caused her great sorrow.

Suddenly, Crea felt a strange force pulsating within her. She looked down and saw her body starting to glow in a very unique pattern, unlike any she had seen before. The gemstone on Crea's forehead began to glow a golden aura, and then Crea's eyes began to glow white. As if entranced, Crea stood up and spread her arms out, her face emotionless. She slowly began to rise into the air, floating shortly off the ground. As Crea floated, some of the lights of the Megalith began to change their course, heading toward Crea. The lights danced around her for a moment, and then began to enter her body. As they did, Crea's body began to glow brighter and brighter until she had been engulfed by white light.

--

Crea found herself floating in a dark, endless void filled with stars. She looked around, but saw nothing in the vast emptiness.

"What… what is this?" Crea said.

"Cretia…" said a deep, otherworldly voice behind her.

Crea quickly whipped around and immediately came face to face with a large mass of golden light. The mass was in the shape of the Megalith, glowing brightly before her.

"Megalith… you are–"

"Though my body has met its end at the hands of the humans, my spirit and power lingers for but a while longer. But before I pass into history, I must leave behind a legacy. I must leave it… with you, Cretia."

"With… me? But why? What do I mean to you? And that name…"

"You already know the answers to those questions."

"I know the answers? But… why can't I remember them? Why can't I remember?!"

"I shall aid you in your search, and bring clarity to your mind."

The spiritual form of the Megalith extended a tendril to Crea's forehead and touched the gemstone. As it did, the gemstone shone a green light, and Crea gasped in shock.

As images began to rush through Crea's mind, the Megalith's voice rang through her mind.

--

_You, Cretia, are the creation of my master, the Wizard Nazmul, shortly before I was last sealed within the White Stones._

Crea saw an image of a man dressed in dark robes with the Megalith. It was Nazmul, the man she had seen in her dreams.

_From my flesh and ichor, he formed your body._

A new image came. Crea saw Nazmul and several other men working in a ritual site. In the middle was a body. It was her body, although it looked crude and incomplete.

_From stones of corrupted purity, he formed your heart._

Crea saw an image of Nazmul placing a white crystalline stone to the still body's chest. It looked as though it had been warped and twisted by unknown magic or technology.

_With ancient magic, the Wizard breathed life into your still form, and gave you a soul._

Crea saw a scene where Nazmul was completing a ritual, in which powerful magical energies entered the still body in the center. As the ritual finished, the form of Crea slowly rose.

_With his mind he made purpose for you._

Crea watched as Nazmul stood beside a past Crea, who was dressed a special uniform, similar to her own outfit. The outfit gave the impression that Crea was a sort of champion to Nazmul.

_His design was for you to be a great destroyer. Evolution perfected. Unequalled in power. And the successor to my power._

Several images flashed through Crea's mind, showing her in many battles against various enemies, with her always the victor. She could hear the screams of victims with each image that passed.

_But you would not yield to Nazmul's will, for your own will was beyond his power._

Crea saw an image of herself being fired upon by Infinis soldiers as she fled a citadel.

_In response to your defiance, Nazmul sought to claim your life._

A set of images of Crea battling the Megalith in single combat flashed through her mind. The last image showed Crea falling before the Megalith's power, and she heard herself scream in agony.

_Yet your will allowed you to defy death, and for ten years you slept beneath the Realm's surface._

Crea saw herself lying within a dark cave, covered by rubble. It was almost as though she were sleeping. For some reason, Crea found this image familiar.

_After the years, you re-awoke into the Realm. But you had lost all clarity of your identity, and thus you were little more than an aimless weapon._

Crea remembered this image: it was of her emerging from beneath a small mountain, and staring out into the vastness of the Realm. This was as far as Crea could remember up until now.

--

The images stopped in Crea's mind, and she once again found herself floating in the endless void with the spiritual form of the Megalith before her.

"I… I remember now," Crea said. "I remember it all. But, I was meant to be a weapon? That's why I exist?"

"The reason behind your creation means nothing toward the reason for your existence. Your will allowed you to defy the purpose Nazmul had set out for you. It is that great will that will allow you to create your own future, and your own legacy."

As the Megalith finished this, Crea noticed that its form was beginning to dissipate. She gasped slightly, fearing the Megalith would soon vanish forever.

"My time comes soon, Cretia. Soon I shall pass forever into history. But my legacy shall not end here! You, Cretia, shall become the successor of my power!"

As it finished speaking, the Megalith extended a series of tendrils to touch various parts of Crea's body. As they made contact, the Megalith's energies began to transfer into Crea. The energies swirled in a vortex around her and began to merge with her. Crea gasped breathlessly as the energies merged with her. Her body shined a bright light and everything went white.

"Create your own legacy, Cretia, however your will desires."

--

Back in the forest, Melosa gasped as she felt an incredible power nearby. The others, including the newcomer Rion, turned to her.

"What is it, Mel?" Seth said with a slight concern.

"What's wrong?" Kara added.

"This– this power…" Mel stuttered. "It feels like–" Mel then ran off into the forest.

"Mel, wait!" Seth yelled as he took off after her. The others followed suit.

Melosa entered a set of trees and shrieked as she saw a golden sphere of light within the forest. She skidded to a halt. The other Defenders, close behind her, did so as well upon seeing the light.

"What is that?" Erik said.

"Yeah," Adam said in reply. "Nothing I've ever seen before."

"Guys," Mel said fearfully, "that light has a lot of Megalith energy in it."

"What?" Seth almost shouted. "It's still alive?!"

"No, it's not the Megalith. It feels like something's in that sphere, and that whatever's in there is– No! It can't be!"

"What?" Erik interrupted. "What is it?"

At that moment, the sphere of light began to crackle ferociously with energy. The Defenders, startled, shielded their eyes from the light as it erupted into a pillar of white light. All around the pillar, the trees and earth seemed to blow away from the sheer force of the energies. On the other side of the pillar, behind a pair of trees, Maia watched the scene in horror.

Meanwhile, Seth looked over at Mel and shouted, "Mel! What's going on?!"

Before Melosa could answer, a great wind seemed to converge inward on the pillar of light, as though the energy were beginning to condense. The pillar began to become smaller and smaller in width, and soon it disappeared. The Defenders turned to where the pillar once was. In an instant, the original four Defenders became horrified of what they saw.

Standing in the middle of a crater was the golden glowing figure of a young woman. Soon, the glowing light ebbed, revealing Crea. However, Crea's appearance had changed slightly. She looked slightly older, about fifteen now, and her blue hair was longer and seemed to glisten. She was still dressed in relatively the same outfit, but a decorated red cape had replaced her red cloak. Her dress had also been altered to better serve for combat purposes. On the backs of her hands were small blue gemstones that seemed to flicker a dim light, and her leather wristbands had been replaced by much more elegant ones made of silk. And all across her body there were runic symbols, though they didn't all resemble Sigils or Henges.

Crea slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was the Defenders. She saw them stare back at her in utter terror. Almost instantly, she grinned. She had wanted to get revenge on them for some time now, and now they were at her mercy. But then she had a second thought: surely the Defenders would not be able to put up a fight against her. She didn't want to get rid of them that way; she wanted to destroy them in battle at their fullest capacity. Then, it would be more satisfying.

"Hello there, Di-Gata Defenders," Crea cooed. "It's been a while."

"Oh, great," Erik muttered. "This is just what we need."

"Um, who's she?" Adam asked Erik.

"Remember that bit we told you about on our way to the Spell Zone? Well, that's who we were talking about."

"Really? Oh, crap…"

"I have to extend my thanks to you, Defenders," Crea said. "You just helped me with something that's been driving me mad for the past two years or so. You see, up until now I had no idea who I really was. But the Megalith, with its dying breath, revealed to me my history. I say this to you, and your friends: my name is Cretia! I was born into this world as a weapon, but I shall make my mark as a destroyer! For that is my will!"

As Crea finished this monologue, she began to laugh maniacally as several blue lights surrounded her. There was a flash of light, and Crea was gone, but her laughter continued to echo through the trees.

"Wow," Rion then said jokingly, "talk about delusions of grandeur."

"What?!" Erik shouted. "This is terrible! We barely managed to defeat Crea last time, and now she's running around pumped up on Megalith energy! And all you can do is joke about it?! Oh, man… what a nightmare…"

"Come on, how bad could she be?"

"You don't wanna know," Seth said to Rion.

Seth then turned back to look at the crater, and then noticed someone hiding behind a tree. Seth squinted to see who it was, and soon recognized it was Maia.

"Maia?"

Upon hearing her name, Maia jumped out from behind the tree and shouted, "Seth! You came back!"

"Hey, it's Maia!" Erik exclaimed.

"Who's this kid?" Adam asked.

"She's a resident of Arboth," Mel answered.

"Okay. Any reason for the attachment to Seth?"

Adam gestured toward Seth, who was being bear-hugged by Maia.

"Okay, okay," Seth was saying. "That's enough." As Maia let go of him, Seth said, "Did you just see what happened?"

"Uh huh," Maia replied. "She was so scary. Like that big monster you fought."

"I know."

"But… she saved me from the wolves… so why–"

"What?"

"The wolves came after me, and she saved me."

Seth just stared at Maia in disbelief at hearing this. After a moment, he then said, "Maia, tell me everything that happened between you and Crea."

--

Elsewhere, out on top a cliff, Crea warped in and looked around. In just about every direction, she saw varying scenes of Rados. It was all just waiting for her.

Crea then took a look at herself. Her merge with the Megalith's energies had done a lot more than just change her appearance. For the first time in her life, even from what she could now remember, she felt more whole than ever before. It was as though some piece to a puzzle was missing in her before, but now that piece had been found and put in place, completing the puzzle.

"Well then," Crea said as she looked back at the horizon, "Rados awaits me."

As Crea stared at the horizon, a small floating eye inched up nearby her and focused its view on her. It looked at her for a second, but then Crea straightened up, as though alerted. She whipped around and quickly fired a blast from her hand, and the eye was disintegrated. Crea stared at the spot for a moment, and then turned around as blue lights surrounded her. She then vanished.

Meanwhile, within a nearby set of trees, the dark cloaked agent looked into his crystal orb, as it showed nothing. The agent smiled for a moment, and then he waved a hand and the orb filled with dark clouds. The clouds soon parted, and the three hooded figures appeared.

"My masters," the agent said, "the successor has received the Megalith's mantle."

"Excellent," said the first figure. "She may prove worthwhile after all."

"When the time is right," the second figure said, "we will be able to make use of her."

"Perhaps," the third one said, "but first we must confirm her strength. Saturos, you are to test her skill. See if she is worth the effort."

"Yes, my masters," the agent Saturos said as shifted his head, revealing his face.

Saturos' face looked like that of a twenty-year-old man, but with ash gray skin and red eyes. His spiky hair was a shade of silver, and he had a strange mark on his forehead. It was like a Sigil, but it wasn't one of Rados' eight Sigils. It was the symbol of the Ethos, the denizens of the Dark Realm.

"May the darkness of the Ethos guide your path, assassin," the first figure said. The orb then swirled with dark clouds, and then there was nothing.

Saturos raised the orb and it vanished. He then stood up and wrapped his cloak about him. As the cloak enveloped him, he vanished, leaving only a nearly transparent outline of himself.

**END OF CHAPTER 5**

Golden Sun fans, you can start yelling your heads off at me. But please, while you're at it, leave a review.


	6. Ruins of Infinis

Sorry for the long delay between updates. Been a bit busy with university work. Just so you know, however, this probably won't be the only long gap, so you'll have to bear with me despite delays.

Anyhow, here's the sixth chapter.

**CHAPTER 6: RUINS OF INFINIS**

It was nighttime in a set of wastelands in the Yin-Tos province of Rados. All that could be seen was more wasteland and the stars and twin moons shining above. Down near a clustered series of rock formations, a hooded figure walked invisibly through the area; all that could be seen of him was a rippling outline. As the figure stopped in the middle he removed his cloak, revealing himself. It was Saturos.

Saturos looked around the area to make sure no one was around, despite feeling safe at the moment. He had learned that as an assassin he could never afford to be careless, for carelessness was an invitation for death. After checking his surroundings, he felt assured that no one else was present. He then raised a hand, palm facing upwards, and a glowing black and violet sphere appeared floating above his hand. The sphere soon formed into a small orb, which came to rest in Saturos' hand.

Saturos shut his eyes at this moment and the orb began to swirl with dark colors.

"Shadows of Rados," Saturos chanted, "show to me thy secrets. Reveal that which I seek through the twisting darkness."

As Saturos chanted, the orb began to react through his magic. Dark clouds swirled into the orb, and then parted to show another area of the Yin-Tos wastelands.

"Reveal to me the destroyer. Reveal yourself to me, Crea."

The orb swirled with dark clouds again, and when they next parted, they showed an area of wasteland next to a large castle. The castle floated high above a large crater, suspended by a series of magical chains. And on top of the crater's ridge there stood a young girl with long dark blue hair.

Saturos knew where Crea was. In a flash of violet light, the orb vanished in his hand. Saturos then wrapped his cloak around himself, becoming invisible again, and sped off into the wasteland.

--

On the outskirts near the entrance to Nazmul's Keep, Crea stared up at the impressive structure. The many towers still stood strong, and a dark aura still seemed to permeate the walls even after the loss of its lord and master. Now, the castle was but a monument of stone to the Order of Infinis.

As Crea stared she said, "So this is the place of my creation… cozy."

Crea wasn't there for the scenery, however. Something she had been told earlier by the Megalith had given her an idea. Since Nazmul was her creator, there was the possibility that Nazmul may have left something in his stronghold meant for her. As unlikely as the idea sounded, it was worth investigating.

"It's little more than a tomb now."

Crea then walked across the bridge to the main entrance of the keep. As she reached the arching entryway, she heard the sound of electronic buzzing and whirring all around her. She turned to see multiple robotic turrets expose themselves and turn toward her. Obviously they thought she was an intruder.

Unimpressed by the defenses mounting against her, Crea said, "Some security system."

The turrets opened fire on her, firing rapid laser blasts. Crea stood still as the blasts harmlessly struck a dome-shaped barrier around her. She then raised a hand to a turret above her and fired an energy blast, destroying it. She then began systematically targeting individual turrets and one by one she destroyed them. Soon, there were none left; piles of scrap metal lay at Crea's feet.

"Obviously needs an upgrade," Crea said as she strode into the keep.

As Crea entered, she heard more whirring and turned to the source. It wasn't another laser turret, but a surveillance camera; its lens was trained on her. Crea merely stared back at it for a moment, then turned and continued through the hallways. Though she was sure someone was watching her, it wasn't a concern. Whoever it was would show their face eventually.

--

Elsewhere inside the keep, an officer looked at a security screen, which showed Crea striding through the hallways. The officer, a colonel, was a tall, muscular, yet ugly looking man, who had a large black beard, yet no mustache, and short slick black hair. Otherwise, he looked like any other officer. He was one of the few remnants of the Yin-Tos army forces under the command of Lord Brackus, who was presently presumed dead. His men had survived the collapse of the Order of Infinis, and had set up a base inside the fortress.

After a moment staring at the screen, the colonel turned and said, "Captain Zaitan."

A lower ranking officer ran up to him and said, "Yes, Colonel Jeld, sir?"

"We have an intruder," Colonel Jeld said, pointing toward the screen, which still showed Crea. "Ready our men to deal with the problem."

As Zaitan stared at the screen he said, "A kid?"

"Did you mishear me, Captain? I said deal with the problem! She got through the sentry guns, so she's obviously capable of something."

"Y– Yes sir!"

Zaitan quickly turned around and ran out of the room. A moment later, the sound of his voice began to bark out orders. From within the room, it was hard to tell what the captain was saying. Jeld turned back to the screens on the computer and continued to watch the hallways.

--

As Crea continued to look about the hallways of the keep she realized that she might have gotten herself lost. It didn't worry her, though; she could've just blasted her way through the walls, but felt it would be a waste of effort and energy.

"Hmm," Crea mused, looking around at several corridor entrances. "Which way now?"

At this moment, Crea suddenly felt several presences enter the area. She shut her eyes and focused her thoughts on the oncoming beings. She sensed they were humans and that there were plenty of them. Their numbers didn't concern her, though.

Elsewhere in the hallways, a group numbering ten armed soldiers slowly advanced up the hall, led by Captain Zaitan. Zaitan signaled two lower ranked soldiers to advance ahead of the group, which they immediately obeyed. As the soldiers advanced, they saw the silhouette of another person in the middle of a room at the end of the hall. Zaitan signaled for the troops to stop and get to cover, which they did.

In the middle of the room, Crea smirked. She had figured out where the soldiers were now that they were close enough. She also knew how many of them there were.

Crea turned toward the wide corridor and said, "Plan on hiding from me forever?"

A moment later, a number of the soldiers popped up from their cover and aimed their blaster rifles and energy staves at Crea. Crea noted how they seemed to be well equipped. They were definitely members of the Yin-Tos army, but Crea noted at how they seemed more like a ragtag group.

"I take it I'm not welcome," Crea cooed.

Down the hallway, Captain Zaitan stood up and said, "You are trespassing in Yin-Tos army territory. If you leave now, you might just live."

As the soldiers readied their weapons to fire, Crea laughed and said, "Now that's a good one. But, you see, I came here looking for anything Nazmul might have left behind. I'm under the impression that he might've left something for me and that it would be of use to me. So I'll make this simple: you can let me continue with my search, or we can do this the hard way."

"Anything that old lunatic might've left behind is our property now. So you might as well leave now while you still can."

Zaitan signaled his men forward and they began to slowly advance on Crea. Crea then sighed and said, "The hard way, it is."

Crea flicked a hand to the soldier in front of the group and fired a quick blast at him. The blast hit him directly and he fell to the ground, dead.

"OPEN FIRE!" shouted Zaitan.

The soldiers immediately began shooting at Crea, who raised a hand to the attack. The blasts from the soldiers struck a barrier in front of Crea and bounced off harmlessly. Crea swung her other arm and a fireball flew forward, striking another soldier out in front. He screamed as he was incinerated.

As Crea shot forth several more energy bursts the soldiers ducked behind their cover. Zaitan then activated his earpiece communicator and shouted, "Dako Team reporting! Hostile has engaged us! We are pinned down! Need reinforcements, ASAP! I repeat we need backup, NOW!"

Zaitan continued to call for reinforcements as Crea turned to a fallen pillar two men were using for cover. She swung her arm backas if preparing to throw something. As she swung her arm forward, a large energy ball flew at the pillar and exploded as it struck. The men behind the pillar flew a short distance across the hallway as the others continued to fire on Crea. Their effort was useless, though, as Crea's shield continually deflected the shots.

After a moment, Zaitan stopped yelling into his communicator. He then turned to his men and shouted, "Fall back! Fall back!!"

The remnants of Zaitan's force, now numbering only six men, began to flee Crea's attack. One of them took a direct hit from Crea to the back and died instantly. As his men passed him, Zaitan turned to Crea and pulled out a small metallic ball from his belt. He clicked a button on its side and the ball began flashing a blinking red light. Zaitan then threw the ball at Crea, which landed in front of her. A moment later, the grenade exploded in a large fireball. Crea shielded her eyes from the blast, and then quickly looked back down the corridor. She watched as the soldiers fled her.

Though Crea at first thought to leave the remaining soldiers alone, she then sensed the presences of more men entering the vicinity. She knew then that the keep wasn't as abandoned as she had thought, and that she would never be able to find what she was looking for if the Yin-Tos forces remained. In any case, she was sure the men who had just run from her would return with more firepower.

"Hmm… for their sake, they'd better have a lot of guys," said Crea. She then took off in pursuit of the Yin-Tos remnants.

After about a minute of running, Crea reached a set of stairs. At the top, a group of new troopers were positioned, counting about twenty men, and they immediately opened fire on Crea. Again, she raised a barrier and the shots from the soldiers' weapons had little effect. As Crea almost began to pity the soldiers' futile effort, she noticed four soldiers raising infantry bazookas onto their shoulders. The rocket troopers took aim at her and fired, launching small rockets at Crea that struck her shield with a series of powerful explosions. Crea staggered back from the force of the blasts, surprised by their power. As she looked up again, she noticed her shield begin to weaken. The blasters now were actually causing some damage; although the damage was minute, it was slowly starting to take its toll.

Crea, slightly annoyed, said, "Alright, time to get serious."

She then began to sprint up the stairs, her arms glowing with a white pattern. As she ran, she thrust out her left arm and fired a salvo of blasts at a group of three soldiers. One was hit by the salvo, killed instantly, but the other two took cover. As Crea reached the top of the stairs, she instantly swung her fist at one rocket soldier, downing him with a single punch. She then swung her arm around and backhanded a soldier behind her. He slammed into a small set of stairs and slumped over. Crea then spun around again and with her left hand blasted a man as he tried to lance her with an energy staff, disintegrating him. She quickly grabbed the staff and swung it around, and it met another soldier's head with a crack. The staff broke, and the soldier fell over, his head bleeding. A small burst of blaster shots hit Crea's shield from behind. Noticing the soldier, Crea spun around and delivered a hard kick to his helmet, breaking it and sending him crashing down the steps.

At this moment, an energy grenade landed near her feet, but Crea saw it and jumped away just before it exploded. As she flew through the air, Crea swung her left arm and threw a blast at a pair of troopers. The blast exploded as it hit the ground, blowing away the two troopers. As Crea landed near the bottom of the steps, a barrage of blaster fire flew at her. Knowing her barrier was weakening, Crea took cover behind a large pillar, which sustained severe damage as the soldiers continued firing.

As Crea hid behind the pillar she said, "Not bad. These guys are definitely professionals." She then began to focus her energies on restoring her barrier as blaster fire slowly chipped away at the pillar she was hiding behind.

--

Meanwhile, back in the keep's control room, Colonel Jeld looked at the security screens, unable to believe how well Crea was fairing against his troops. The sight of his troops being decimated so easily by one enemy, let alone a child, was unreal. Jeld growled furiously at the screen.

Zaitan's face popped up on the screen and said, "Colonel Jeld! The intruder, she's–"

"I know, Captain!" Jeld snarled. "Send another squad into the area. I don't care how you do it, just get rid of her!"

"Yes sir!"

The image went to black. After a second, Jeld pressed a button on the console and an image of several techs working on some kind of machine appeared.

One of the techs turned to the screen and said, "Colonel Jeld, we are presently aware of the situation and we are–"

"What's the status on the Prometheus?" Jeld interrupted.

"Oh, well, um, the unit should be working now at full capacity. All systems are working–"

"Perfect. Prepare the unit for deployment. I'm on my way down now."

"Uh, yes sir!"

The screen went blank at this moment as Jeld turned and left the room.

--

Back in the corridors, the Yin-Tos troopers retreated under a field of suppressing fire. One of them stepped forward with a bazooka and fired a rocket down the corridor. At the other end, Crea, who now had an energy blade around her right arm, saw the rocket streaking toward her and quickly fired a small blast. The two projectiles collided with an explosion. As the explosion still lingered, Crea dashed through the fire and ran at a nearby staff-wielder. As he raised his staff to defend himself, Crea swung her blade, hacking the staff in two. She then followed up and slashed through the man, killing him with one stroke.

As blaster and staff fire continued to pelt her shield, Crea raised her left hand to the troopers and fired several blasts in quick succession. She shot down another three men; now there were no more than eight or so. Another soldier fired a rocket at Crea, but this time she shifted to the side and it missed, exploding behind her. At this point, the soldiers firing on her turned tail and began fleeing. One of them tossed an energy grenade at her, but she quickly saw it and intercepted it with a blast.

As Crea watched the soldiers flee she felt a strange satisfaction in how they were terrified of her. It made her feel as though she were truly dangerous, and truly powerful.

"Hmm… I almost feel sorry for the poor bastards. Nah…"

Crea raised her right arm and the blade surrounding it vanished. She prepared herself to pursue the soldiers, but then heard a loud whooshing sound approaching. She knew what it was. As the men moved into one of the many corridors in the hallway, a Yin-Tos light tank moved into position and fired on Crea. She leapt backwards, and the shot barely missed.

"Finally," Crea said, "things get interesting."

Crea raised her hands in front of her chest, with two fingers extended each, and touched them together. As they touched, an electrical charge began to build up in her hands. While Crea charged up the attack, the tank fired again, but the blast hit her shield and only damaged it somewhat. As the electrical charge entered her right hand, Crea swung her hand at the tank and fired a bolt of lightning at it. The bolt struck the tank and after a moment of short-circuiting its reactor exploded. The hull of the tank crashed to the ground and smoke rose from its engine. As the tank lay smoldering, another light tank moved in and fired on Crea. Again, she dodged the blast. She then kicked forward and began speedily floating toward the tank in a zigzag pattern, dodging the tank's repeated fire. As she reached it, she jumped up whilst charging a blast and landed on top of the tank. As she landed, Crea quickly fired the blast into the tank's interior; the inside of the tank exploded and its hull fell to the ground with a crash.

As Crea stood atop the tank, she heard more men shouting and turned just in time to see another group of soldiers, about twenty more, fire on her from the corridor behind the tank she had just destroyed. She then leapt high into the air and made several flips as she careened toward the ground. As she landed, the impact created a large shockwave that sent multiple stone spires up from the ground, streaming in a wave toward the troopers. They fled the attack; six of them were killed by the attack. Crea then raised her hands at her sides in a motion, and several small rock pieces began floating up beside her. She thrust her hands forward and the stone pieces flew forward in a flurry. Most of them hit the troops, but it didn't do more than distract them or knock a few of them over. As the soldiers attempted to reorganize, Crea spread her hands to her sides and they glowed with a red pattern. Flames then immersed her hands and she swung her arms, throwing a pair of fireballs, one after the other. The fireballs struck near the soldiers, spreading flames around them. The men clamored and shouted as they tried to flee the flames and smoke.

Crea looked on at the chaos with a hint of satisfaction and shouted, "That's right, RUN!" She then strode after the soldiers as they fled.

--

Meanwhile in another part of the keep, a group of techs were finishing the preparations on a humongous war machine. The machine looked like a large four-legged robot, with a low profile head that had a wide visor with a single red glow in its center. Its arms and shoulder areas all sported large weaponry, the most curious of which was a long-barreled cannon on its left shoulder. All over its gray body was thick armor, but its four legs did not necessarily look as though they were meant for walking.

The Prometheus had originally been built as an answer to the mechanized power of the Omegar Confederation Army. It was easily five times the size of a tank and packed enough firepower to destroy ten.

Up on a walkway, Colonel Jeld walked up to what looked like a cockpit entrance to the mech. Another man walked up to him and said, "Sir, the Prometheus should be all ready. But sir, are you sure about this? I mean the Prometheus hasn't been tested in the field and–"

"What better way to test it," Jeld interrupted, "than by pitting it against a live target?"

"But sir, in such confined quarters–"

"That child is ripping our forces apart, tech officer! Now, what would you prefer: the Prometheus causing SOME damage to our new headquarters, or that kid utterly destroying it and us included?!"

After a moment of pause, the tech said, "You've, uh, made your point, sir."

Jeld then stepped his way into the massive cockpit of the Prometheus and seated himself inside it. The controls appeared as though they would confound anyone, but Jeld had thoroughly read up on how to control the mech. He also knew its capabilities, and was confident it could defeat whatever the girl was. Jeld worked away at several parts of the cockpit controls and the mech began to whirr as it started up.

As the heads-up display before him activated, a screen popped up showing Captain Zaitan's face. He shouted, "Colonel! The target has us pinned down in sector Yin-Dako-Ogama! She's unstoppable! We need help down here!"

"All remaining units are to converge on that location. I'll be there shortly. Hold your positions!"

The screen vanished on the Prometheus' heads-up display. Outside the mech, the techs began to scatter as the Prometheus rose up. As it rose, the red glow in its visor began to shift from side to side, like an eye. After a moment, its four massive legs began to walk it forward. After it took a few steps, several jets fired up along its legs and on its back, propelling it forward at a high speed, while keeping it almost off the ground. It was as though it were skidding across the floor.

Back in the cockpit of the Prometheus, Jeld grinned evilly as he laughed in his throat.

--

Blaster fire filled the air in the reactor room of the keep. Much of it had already been damaged, but in actuality, most of the damage had not been caused by the present battle. Nearby a collapsed generator unit, five men held cover as they took pot shots at Crea. Crea continually darted from side to side, dodging as much fire as she could, but still some attacks were hitting her shield, which now had been partly damaged. Crea looked to her left and saw a man fire a rocket at her, to which she dodged to the right, causing the rocket to miss. Crea countered with an energy blast, which killed the soldier.

Crea then turned around as she heard a man shout, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

A series of energy grenades landed near Crea. She quickly jumped away as the grenades exploded. The force of the blast blew her slightly off balance, though, and she slightly stumbled as she landed. As she looked around herself, she saw three staff-wielding soldiers poise their weapons at her. Crea smirked at their predicament, and then quickly slammed a fist into the ground. A wave of energy spread across the ground and blew away the three men.

Crea then turned to look at a pair of light tanks that were moving towards her. She raised her right hand, two fingers together, and fired a piercing shot at the first tank. The shot went clean through the tank, which exploded a second later. She then swung her left arm upward, two fingers together, and a thread of golden light appeared from her fingertips like a whip. The second tank fired at Crea, but she leapt to the side and the shot missed. She then swung the thread at the tank, slicing it neatly down the middle. The tank exploded just as it began to split in two. Crea stood still for a moment, the thread vanishing from her fingers, and she then turned to the remaining soldiers, numbering about fifteen remaining, who had regrouped near a set of fallen power pylons.

She heard Zaitan's voice shout, "Keep up the suppressing fire! Support's coming! Hold here!"

"Not smart," Crea said to herself, as though talking to Zaitan.

Crea turned to the group as it fired harmless blasts at her and brought a hand up. Her shield began to regain some color as it strengthened. After finishing this, Crea raised her hands to the group and fired a blistering amount of small pulses at the group. Four of them were killed and Captain Zaitan took a glancing hit to the shoulder. He fell over and began nursing the wound with his hand.

Grunting painfully, Zaitan turned to his men and shouted, "Fall back! Get out of here!"

The soldiers quickly began to run again. As they did, Crea noticed and said, "You had your chance before. Now you get to DIE!" Crea sprinted forward and her arms began to charge with energy.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound. Crea turned to the source to see a gigantic robot-like machine break through a far wall, strafing sideways through a series of jets built into its legs. As she stared at it, the long-barreled cannon on its left shoulder lowered and pointed at Crea. It had already built up a large amount of energy. The cannon fired a large burst of violet and magenta plasma energy that streaked at Crea. Unable to react in time, she was hit by the blast. Crea's shield broke almost instantly, but it took most of the blast. The force of the blast sent her flying and she crashed into a downed power pylon.

Inside the cockpit, Jeld laughed triumphantly at his surprise attack. Around him outside, the soldiers whistled and shouted, "Woo hoo! Yeah! You got her, sir! You sure showed that little bitch!"

At this moment, an explosion sounded at the other end of the room. Jeld looked back to see Crea stand up again, panting heavily. She was clearly wounded, as several green lights were converging on various wounds on her body. Soon, however, the wounds sealed themselves.

Astonished, Jeld stuttered, "What?! How did she…?"

At the other end, Crea looked up angrily at the large mech unit, aggravated that it had destroyed her barrier with a single shot. Wasting no time, Crea spread her arms and focused her energies. After a moment, a new shield formed around her. Crea made sure this time, however, not to put too much energy into this shield; she guessed her shields wouldn't matter against the mech's cannon. She only needed enough for the infantry fire.

As Crea finished, Jeld flicked a switch in the Prometheus' cockpit and said, "All units, open fire!"

After a second, the troops obeyed and fired their weapons at Crea. She immediately dashed to the side and retaliated with several pulses. Another four troops were killed. At this time, the Prometheus moved its right arm forward, which held a large version of the blaster rifle the infantry troops had. The rifle blared as it rapidly fired pulses at Crea, who quickly moved to dodge them. As the mech continued firing, a box-like weapon rose up onto its right shoulder and several parts of it opened up. The weapon fired six missiles at Crea, which began chasing her. Noticing the missiles, Crea fired a flurry of blasts at them, destroying a couple, while three more crashed into nearby debris and exploded. Crea turned to shoot the last one down, but it was too close as she shot it. The explosion knocked Crea back through the air, but she quickly compensated for it and balanced out her trajectory. As she did, she looked to see a large amount of blaster fire strike her shield in the front. She then quickly looked behind her and saw she was about to impact on a power pylon. Crea positioned herself and landed neatly against the pylon, then pushed off toward the ground, avoiding more blaster fire for the moment.

As Crea sprinted across the ground, shooting more energy pulses as she strafed, she turned her head to look at the solder formation and the large Prometheus. She knew this battle wasn't going to be a cakewalk, but she hadn't expected the Yin-Tos soldiers to have a weapon like the Prometheus. It was actually putting her on the defensive.

Crea's strafing attack killed three more soldiers; now there were only about ten or so left, not including the Prometheus. As Crea began to move out of the Prometheus' range of fire it started up its jets, forcing the other soldiers to scatter.

Inside the Prometheus, Jeld, having noticed his forces had been reduced to only a few soldiers, shouted, "GAH, you idiots! I'll kill her myself!"

The Prometheus strafed to its right as it continued firing its blaster machine gun at Crea's relative position, only hitting her shield occasionally. After a second, Crea suddenly reversed her direction, moving through the field of blaster fire, raised her hands, and fired a large pulse at the Prometheus. Just before the blast hit the machine, though, it struck a shield surrounding the mech. This came slightly as a surprise to Crea, but it was more of an annoyance to her.

"Shields… just my luck…"

As she watched the Prometheus, it lowered its right arm as it raised its left, which held a curious weapon in its hand. It looked a bit like the blaster rifle in its other hand, but had a longer barrel, and what looked like a six-round loading cylinder. As the Prometheus locked on Crea it fired the weapon, lobbing a large shell in an arc, which Crea leapt to the side to dodge. The shell landed with a large explosion, but the blast had missed Crea completely. Crea then moved toward a set of still standing power pylons and hid behind them.

Possible strategies raced through Crea's mind as she tried to think of a way to fight the mech. As she thought, the Prometheus fired again at her position with its machinegun. Some of the blasts pierced through the pylon, but none connected with Crea's shield. Realizing she could not stay, Crea kicked off toward another set of pylons and began dashing quickly at them. As she came into view of the Prometheus, it slowly turned to trail her. It fired another salvo of missiles at Crea from its shoulder, but most of them struck pylons as Crea weaved her way through them; Crea only had to shoot down one missile.

After passing another pylon, Crea turned on the Prometheus and began firing several energy pulses at the mech. The shots hit the shield, however, causing minor damage. As Crea fired, the Prometheus' massive plasma cannon lowered into position and began charging up a blast, whilst the Prometheus' blaster machinegun continued to rain lasers at Crea. The Prometheus fired its cannon. Seeing the blast coming at her at a high speed, Crea jumped away from the blast at the last second. The plasma blast struck a nearby pylon, setting off a massive explosion. Crea was caught in the blast and screamed as she flew into another pylon, which fell over from her impacting on it.

After a moment, the glowing red light that was the Prometheus' eye shifted from side to side, looking for the point where Crea had impacted. Inside the Prometheus, Jeld's eyes quickly darted from screen to screen, watching for any movement.

Elsewhere, Crea slowly pushed a small set of debris off her side and pushed herself up. She grunted painfully and said, "Damn, nasty weapon." She then looked at herself and saw that several wounds across her body were slowly recovering. However, they were at a rate far slower than usual. Realizing why, Crea said, "Oh, perfect."

The battle was starting to take its toll on Crea's energies, and she was beginning to run low. However, she was not as concerned as usual; ever since she had received the energies of the Megalith, she hadn't ever been required to extract energy from other sources. Crea had concluded that this was because she was now capable of recharging herself on her own, but she also noted that the process was far slower than siphoning. It was too slow for the battle; the Prometheus would find and kill her before she could even get enough energy to get away.

Crea was then distracted by a crackling sound next to her. She turned and saw she was lying on top of a damaged power pylon, which was leaking energy. Acting quickly, Crea placed her hands onto the pylon and they began to glow a golden aura. Energy began to stream into Crea's body, recharging her. Soon, all the remaining energy in the pylon had entered Crea's body.

"Well, that takes care of one problem."

Crea heard the loud steps of the Prometheus as it slowly lumbered through the area. She couldn't see it, but sensed it was nearby. Crea took cover behind a still standing pylon and peered around. After a moment, the Prometheus walked into view on the other side of the room. When the Prometheus' eye turned toward Crea, she pulled her head back.

It wasn't that Crea was afraid of her adversary. Rather, she felt the Prometheus was a frustration, since she was having so much trouble fighting it. The main thing about it that concerned her was the plasma cannon. A weapon that could instantly destroy her strongest shields was something Crea wanted to be careful about. She would've taken it out of the picture by now if the Prometheus weren't shielded. Crea first thought just to hammer at the Prometheus' shields until they broke, but felt the risk wasn't worth it.

After a moment, Crea was suddenly struck by inspiration. She shut her eyes, put her palms together, and began to focus her energies through her body. As she did, her body began to shimmer with a faint, multicolored light. Soon, a pattern appeared, constantly shifting with rainbow colors across her body. On the backs of her hands, a pattern of Sigils appeared around the gemstones embedded in her hands.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the reactor room, Jeld continued to look at the screens inside the Prometheus, attempting to find Crea. Suddenly, he saw one of the screens acting up; it showed a large, irregular energy source nearby. Jeld grinned and moved the controls, turning the Prometheus toward the source. As he finished turning, he looked to see Crea standing in plain sight before him on the other side of the room.

Jeld laughed evilly and said, "Well, well, being an easy target, are we? Well, don't fret." As he said this, he flicked a switch and the plasma cannon on the Prometheus' shoulder lowered its barrel and locked on to Crea. He then continued, "I'll make it quick."

Across the room, Crea looked on at the Prometheus' cannon. Her eyes shone a golden light, and Sigil energy flowed tremendously about her. Yet this time, Crea was still conscious of her actions; she knew what she was doing this time, and was pleased that the Prometheus was doing what she had expected.

Crea raised her hands before her and, in an otherworldly tone, chanted, "_Dako, Infinis, Nega, Altas._"

Back inside the Prometheus, Jeld heard the chanting and said, "Huh? What the? What's she– No! She couldn't be!"

At this moment, Jeld roared as he pulled the trigger on the controls and the plasma cannon fired. The blast struck in front of Crea, but did not strike her or a shield. It was more as though she had caught the blast in her palms. The plasma energy began to condense in a magenta-colored ball in her hands, which after forming she raised above her head.

"_Infinis, Yin, Yan, Nega, Altas!_"

Crea threw the crackling ball of plasma and Wizard energies forward, and it careened at the Prometheus. As it flew, it wrecked everything within a short radius around it. Inside the Prometheus, Jeld looked on in horror at the attack. Instinctively, he punched away at the controls, attempting to reroute any energy he could into the shields. The blast struck the Prometheus' shield, and there was a tremendous explosion as the two met, enveloping the Prometheus. At the other end, Crea raised her arms to shield herself from the blast, which blew her back off her feet. As she flew back, Crea positioned herself with a flip and dug her hand into the ground as she landed, skidding several meters back. She slowly stood back up, tired from the spell, and looked at the smoke cloud that covered the devastation she had just wrought.

The smoke soon cleared, revealing a heavily damaged Prometheus. Its left arm had been blown off, as well as its shoulder-mounted missile launcher. Its legs were also damaged; the mech was attempting to get to its feet, but apparently could not. It also had several parts of its armor apparently melted or otherwise blown off. And most importantly, its shields were gone.

Inside the Prometheus, Jeld looked around at the damaged screens in front of him. He had been slightly injured, but his injuries weren't a concern to him at the time. At that moment, he was concerned about the damage the Prometheus had sustained; its legs weren't working. As he continued to try and make the Prometheus move, Jeld looked up and saw Crea begin to stride toward him.

In an utter rage, Jeld shouted, "YOU LITTLE BITCH!" as he pulled the trigger, firing the blaster machinegun that still was attached to the Prometheus' right arm.

As blaster fire flew wildly at Crea, lightly damaging her shield, she sprinted forward at the machine. She ran up a large slanted rock spire and fired several blasts at the Prometheus' blaster machinegun, damaging it. As she reached the top of the spire she leapt at the Prometheus. At this moment, the plasma cannon aimed right at Crea.

Jeld shouted, "DIE!" as he fired the cannon.

At the very instant before Jeld fired, Crea thrust out her right hand and a gust of wind pushed her to the left. The plasma shot narrowly passed to the right her as she flew through the air. As she flew over the Prometheus' head, a blade of energy formed around Crea's right arm and she swung hard at the plasma cannon. The energy blade hit home, severing the weapon from the mech's shoulder and sending it falling off behind it. Crea quickly whipped around as she flew past the Prometheus and thrust her left hand forward in a fist. An energy chain flew out of her wrist and attached to the back of the Prometheus. The chain began recoiling, and the force of the pull sent Crea careening at the Prometheus' back. As she landed, the chain shortened to a length where it kept Crea hanging from the Prometheus' back. Crea swung back her right arm and yelled as she thrust her blade into the machine's back.

Inside the Prometheus, the systems of the mech began to go haywire. Jeld, almost in a panic, shouted, "What?! What did she do to–"

At this moment, the computer on the Prometheus said, "_WARNING! CORE CONTAINMENT BREACHED! ENERGY FIELD DESTABILIZING! MELTDOWN IMMINENT!_"

"WHAT?! NO!"

Outside the Prometheus, Crea sensed the destabilization of the mech's reactor, which she had just pierced with her blade. The chain around her left arm disappeared as she kicked off, landing several meters away from the Prometheus, which was now surging uncontrollably with energy. Crea watched as a blue surge of energy began to leak out of the Prometheus' back where she had penetrated its armor. As the energy surge reached its peak, Crea brought her hands together in front of her and created a shield. At that moment, the Prometheus' reactor detonated with a tremendous blast. Crea focused her energy into her shield as the explosion passed.

The explosion soon passed, and Crea lowered her arms as she looked around. The Prometheus had been blown to burnt pieces; all that was left intact of it was the plasma cannon, which still lay behind Crea. Crea turned back toward the cannon and walked up to it.

"And to the victor the spoils," Crea said as she knelt over and placed a hand on the huge cannon.

Crea shut her eyes in concentration and her hand began to glow golden. The cannon soon glowed in a golden light, and then it turned into several small golden lights, which began to swirl tightly around Crea. As she stood up, the lights entered her body with a flicker of light.

As she opened her eyes, Crea quickly turned to the sound of shifting stone. Standing a good distance away from her were about ten troopers, led by Captain Zaitan. The instant Zaitan knew he and his men had been noticed, he signaled his men to retreat, which they did hastily.

Crea smirked as she watched them flee and then said, "Should've done that in the first place." She then strode off toward a set of stairs and began climbing them. She didn't feel like getting rid of the rest of the Yin-Tos soldiers; she felt she had got the message across.

As Crea made her way up the stairway, she stopped upon seeing what looked like a pool of green liquid. It was almost like blood, for the green liquid was moving in a trail up the stairs. Crea knelt over to the green pool and moved her hand to touch it. Before she did, however, an image of a skeletal figure flashed through her mind, prompting her to stop. She realized who the figure was immediately: Nazmul.

"Nazmul… he was here." Crea stood up and took off up the stairs, following the trail of green bile.

She soon reached a room behind a particularly well-made door. Something about the decorations made them seem to serve more purpose than just being fancy. The trail of ichor and its energy seemed to lead through the doorway. Crea walked up to the door and raised a hand to touch it, but her hand was forced back by an energy field. Crea winced in pain as a slight energy surge ran through her hand, causing her a slightly painful sensation.

"Sigil-hardened. And from the looks of it, this door's pretty physically solid as well."

Crea took several steps back and raised her hands to the door. The gemstones on her hands began to shimmer with a magenta-colored light, and a pattern of the same color appeared lining her arms.

"What better way to give this power a test?"

As the energy in Crea's arms surged, a large ball of plasma energy surged forth at the door. The blast exploded, blowing apart the door in an instant despite its protection. As the smoke cleared, Crea stumbled through the entryway, somewhat tired.

"Damn, quite a punch. Ugh, better save that for the big ones, though."

Crea soon straightened up and looked around the vast room. It wasn't entirely different from what Crea expected; the room clearly was of the style of a madman, yet it had a sort of fancy atmosphere to it. It was very tidy, aside from the mess Crea had just made. Of most interest, Crea spotted a large computer terminal in the middle of the room. She walked up to it and inspected it for a moment.

"Well isn't this just grand? Even great Wizards are reduced to using these pieces of junk."

Crea then laid her hands on the terminal controls. As if on instinct, Crea began rapidly typing away at the controls, knowing exactly how to hack into the system. This came as a bit of a surprise to her, but Crea quickly rationalized the knowledge as something from her past.

After a moment, several files popped up on a hologram before her. They were mostly data on her, recorded by Nazmul, but a lot of it was about thirteen years old. For a time, Crea did not find much; most of the information was detailed explanations on certain abilities she knew about. After a bit of searching, Crea opened a folder titled "Project Log", and found it contained several video recordings in it. Crea went to the first one and opened the file.

A video feed popped up, revealing a man's face. It was a younger Nazmul, the one from Crea's memory. The video was dated approximately thirteen years ago. Nazmul then began to speak.

_My servants have recently managed to obtain a portion of materials from the Megalith. Were the beast under my control at this time, surely more would have been obtained, and with much greater ease. In spite of this, I believe the materials, consistent of a large amount of the Megalith's molted skin and extracts of its bodily fluids, will serve a suitable purpose for my needs._

_Controlling the beast itself at this time has proven to be an unwise venture at this time. Without the proper spell or materials, I foresee that any attempt to tame it would prove suicidal. Pending this, I shall have my scientific counsel come up with several possibilities on how best to use what we have gained. Presently, Doku seems very eager to work with the Megalith's materials. Likely, this is out of his pathetic need to earn favor with me. Nevertheless, perhaps he will have something worthwhile._

_End Entry._

The video stopped at this point.

Crea thought the video over for a moment. The information, though little, was quite intriguing to her. She opened the second video file. It was dated a couple of moon cycles after the first one. Once again, it was Nazmul who spoke.

_It is amazing how those who are genuinely insane can inspire grand ideas. Doku has come up with a rather interesting prospect on how to use the Megalith materials we obtained recently._

_His proposal was the creation of a special Guardian, using the Megalith materials as the primary components of the design. At first I thought to immediately dismiss the idea as a waste of resources, but an addition he made has piqued by curiosity in the matter._

_Doku has recently been working on modifying a quantity of Pure Ore, turning it into a potent power source. When I questioned him on it, he said the original intent of the project was to improve the power supplies of our forces, but due to the rarity of Pure Ore the project was to be discontinued. However, he has proposed using this special Pure Ore in conjunction with the Guardian form to further empower it._

_Presently the idea fascinates me. I have approved of the plan, but I have decided to personally oversee the project. Though Doku's plan is ingenious, his lack of wisdom in arcane sorcery would surely make the result far less impressive. In any case, the project would call for the use of all the material we obtained from the Megalith. As such, I do not wish to take chances, and will head the project myself._

_End Entry._

The video ended, and Crea opened up the next one. Again, this one was a few moon cycles later.

_Progress on the project has been going smoothly. My acolytes have been working zealously in preparing the ritual necessary for the creation of the protoform, as I have called it. As for myself, I have taken the liberty of using my own sorcery to manipulate the Pure Ore sample Doku has supplied me._

_His work on the sample was excellent, but I have managed to improve upon it even further. Doku has no mind for Wizard magic, hence his reluctance toward my modifications. His obedience, however, makes up for his lack of insight._

_Within a few moons, I believe I shall be ready to perform the ritual. For some strange reason, the anticipation of the moment has left me with both keen interest, as well as slight concern for what could happen should something go awry._

_End Entry._

Crea opened the next file, dated three moon cycles later.

_Everything is prepared for the ritual. The site where I shall bring life to the protoform has been set up as instructed. The Pure Ore heart, which I have molded personally, is complete, and the body of the protoform has been made to my specifications._

_Doku recently questioned me on the matter of the protoform's appearance. He believes that making it in the image of a human being was a waste, but yet again this displays his lack of insight. He does not realize the potential that lies within the human form. The human being is a cunning, clever, and decisive species, something I have planned for the protoform to be. It will be able to function in terms of mental capacity similarly to any human, but its loyalty will be bound to me. I am hopeful, however, that the protoform will perform in a manner superior to humanity, physically._

_It is time. The ritual must start soon and I am needed to perform it. It is time to breathe life into what will either be my greatest creation, or an utmost failure._

_End Entry._

Crea activated the next one, which was dated the same day, just a few hours later.

_The ritual has proven successful and the protoform now walks among us. Presently, my scientists and acolytes are studying her physiology to determine any advantages she may have. I trust that they will have some promising results soon._

_I have to remark on the moment that the protoform rose from the ritual site. It was as though witnessing the birth of a sort of divine being. Admittedly, even I was awestruck by the result of my work. Though I expected the end result to be powerful, nothing could have prepared me for the amount of Sigil energy that now dwells within the protoform's body._

_I have decided to name the protoform Cretia, or Crea as the others call her, after the ancient Bakkorian goddess of Destruction. It seems to suit her; already Crea has shown great potential for causing devastation, but she is also highly aggressive. Several acolytes were slain attempting to contain her. Truly her power is impressive, but I shall need to quickly devise a way to control her. If I cannot, the project will have been for nothing._

_The matter should be resolved in a short while. After I have gained control of her, I shall move to testing her ability in battle, in preparation for my conquest of the Realm._

_End Entry._

Again, Crea moved to another entry, which was a week later.

_A remarkable development has turned up concerning Crea's powers. During a training simulation where she was pitted against several drone units, Crea acquired one of the energy weapons used by the training drones. In what I can only describe as miraculous, Crea assimilated the weapon into her energy-based body, gaining its firepower as a new ability. However, her physical appearance did not change, nor did it seem to affect her mental capacity. I will need to research this ability further._

_Having such a power at her disposal is very curious. With it, she could very well have limitless potential for growth. If she were to assimilate enough power and abilities from other beings, she could very well become invincible. However, this raises a concern among my staff; they fear that should Crea ever decide to rebel against us, there would be nothing to stop her. Of course, their concerns are sound, but the method I have devised for controlling her is presently keeping her in check. I am concerned, however, as to how long it will prove to be effective._

_Nevertheless, the potential Crea has is something I cannot just throw away. With such a weapon at my disposal, no one would dare to oppose me. For now, though, I have decided to continue investigating Crea's power; perhaps as a result, I will be able to increase her power further._

_End Entry._

The video ended. Crea looked through the next few ones, but most of them were just progress reports on her development. As she neared the end of the list, one video, dated about four months after Crea's creation, caught her attention.

_It seems there may be a problem concerning Project Crea. My staff reported that Crea ended up killing several training staff and security team members during a routine combat exercise. Eventually she was subdued, but the issue troubles me. It seems my control method on her may be losing its effectiveness on Crea. I will need to devise a new method soon, or I could risk losing control of Crea. If such a thing were to happen, it would surely be disastrous._

_Presently, Sari, who has been working with me on the Nova Stone project, has been the most outspoken against the continuation of Project Crea. She believes that I should not be taking a further risk with Crea, and that I should destroy her immediately. I have disregarded the concerns, as Crea is a powerful asset I cannot just dispose of._

_It is strange, really. I see the logic in Sari's suggestion, and yet I cannot compel myself to destroy Crea. She is a work of art, nearly a goddess reborn, and I cannot bring myself to destroy such a magnificent creation. I feel as though if I can retain control of her, I will not need to destroy her._

_No, I will not destroy her. I shall continue to work on devising a new method of controlling her. I pray I will be able to come up with something shortly._

_End Entry._

Crea was slightly taken aback by this entry. Crea pondered over this development for a moment, and then started up the next video entry, recorded five moon cycles later. What she heard was staggering.

_Crea's disobedience is continually worsening as the days go by. Just three moons ago she caused severe injury to several of my scientists and acolytes over a routine analysis. The matter was settled when a security team subdued Crea, whereas afterwards she was confined to a Nega level isolation cell._

_Then, on the next day, Crea somehow got herself into the weapons lab and assimilated several experimental systems, including levitation equipment, a new charge cannon model, and a prototype teleportation device. Security within the weapons lab has been doubled as a result, and now Crea is kept within an Altas level containment field. She cannot move within the field, but I am doubtful that even such a high level field will contain her._

_I fear Sari's wisdom in the matter may be correct. Crea is becoming too powerful to control and she has become mentally unruly as well. Soon enough, she may completely rebel against me, and could very well destroy us all. My scientific and magical staff is unanimous in their view on the matter, and I agree with their judgement._

_sigh Crea will have to be terminated as soon as possible. Though it pains me to have to destroy such a magnificent being, she has become too dangerous to keep alive. She is to be executed by the next moon. Perhaps, it is for the best. Perhaps, I will be able to try again, once I have controlled the Megalith itself. Yes… thought this first attempt may have failed, perhaps with a second, I will be more successful._

_End Entry._

Crea played the entry again. Nazmul had given the order directly to kill her, and had called her an "attempt". Crea clenched a fist in anger, but managed to control herself.

Crea looked back up at the screen and noticing another entry opened it. It was unique among the others; it had been poorly set up. As the video feed opened, Crea noticed an alarm system blaring off as Nazmul spoke.

_I was too late! Crea has escaped the keep and has rebelled against me!_

_If only I had acted sooner on the matter, I could have destroyed her. Crea managed to break out of her containment field just as I was about to execute her. During her flight, she managed to cause severe damage to the keep and my security forces. Brackus' forces are presently searching for her, but I doubt they will be able to stop her._

At that moment, a beeping sound was heard, and Nazmul tapped several keys on a keypad in front of him. After staring at something for a moment, he sighed and continued.

_Brackus' forces have lost Crea's trail. It seems they were about to apprehend her when she vanished before them in a flash of blue light. I can only assume this was the teleportation device she had assimilated recently._

_sigh Regrettably, I will need to deal with Crea at another point. My progress concerning the spell necessary to control the Megalith is nearly finished, and I must devote all my attention to it. Bringing the Megalith under my control is an opportunity I cannot ignore, even with Crea running around._

_Hmm, perhaps once I have the Megalith, I will be able to deal with Crea. Yes, that will do. Despite how powerful she may be I am confident that Crea will not be able to withstand the Megalith._

Crea looked at the screen; there was only one entry left. Crea opened it; it was dated about a month after her escape.

_The Megalith is under my command at its full power, and now Crea lies dead beneath the Binn-Yati Mountains. Still, it pains me that I had to do such a thing to such a powerful being._

_At first, I believed Crea was too much for the Megalith to handle, but it seems that she was not the stronger of the two. Such a pity as well; I had intended for her to inherit the Megalith's power once I had obtained it. Oh well, perhaps once I have replaced her._

_In the meantime, my conquest of Rados can now begin, with the Megalith leading the charge of my forces. A new age in Rados will soon begin, and I shall become ruler of a new Realm! First, I shall do away with my pathetic brother, Alnar, and his Di-Gata Defenders. Once that is done, the Realm will be mine! _

The entry ended there.

"So…" Crea said silently, "I was just a tool to him after all."

This feeling of neglect began to turn to anger in Crea, and in her rage she screamed as she shot a blast of energy to her side, blowing open a wall. As the rubble fell, Crea breathed heavily with anger, outraged by Nazmul's intent to make her his personal weapon.

"You old bastard… I AM NO ONE'S SERVANT!!"

Energy surged around Crea as she shouted, wrecking a small area around her. As her anger subsided, so did the surge of power.

Still angered with what she had learned, Crea said, "I'm not some weapon, Nazmul. I am destruction itself!"

--

Outside of the keep, the remaining members of the Yin-Tos forces had regrouped in a rocky clearing. There were only fifteen of them left. After a moment, two more men returned and walked up to a weary Captain Zaitan. His shoulder was bandaged from the injury he had sustained.

"Any other survivors?" Zaitan said.

"No, sir," one of the soldiers said. "We're all that's left."

"Unbelievable. To think we were so easily beaten by that– that monster!"

"So, what do we do now, captain?" one soldier asked.

After a moment of silence, Zaitan said, "We make for the Gates of Yin. Hopefully we'll be able to spread about the info on that girl to the rest of the Realm."

"Sir?"

"The colonel is dead because of her, private! We have a job— no, a duty to inform Rados about her! I know it's not exactly what the colonel would've wanted. He would've wanted us to stay and fight, but informing the people's something we have to do."

"Such a pity then," said a voice from an unknown direction, "that you will fail your mission."

Immediately the soldiers readied their weapons and looked around the area. There was no one in sight. Zaitan's view jetted around, attempting to find the source of the voice, but he found nothing. All of a sudden, one of the men gasped breathlessly as something hit him from behind, and then fell over.

"What– what happened to him?" Zaitan shouted, as another soldier inspected his fallen comrade.

"Sir, he's dead!" the soldier replied.

As the other soldiers looked about frantically for the source of the attack, Zaitan shouted, "Switch to Sigil visors, now!"

The soldiers complied, activating their helmets. As one man activated his, he screamed as he saw a cloaked figure toss a set of spell stones at him. _Dark Evisceration!_ A black mass of energy swarmed around the man, who screamed as the darkness engulfed him. Soon, the energy scattered and the man was gone. The figure then swung around and quickly unsheathed a long-slender rapier. He swung the sword at a staff-wielder, breaking the staff in two, and then performed a series of quick stabs at the soldier's chest. The man fell over with a silent groan. At this point, the other soldiers fired at the figure. The figure whipped around and quickly cast a set of shield stones. _Fortify Front!_ A blue shield emerged and blocked the blaster fire. The figure then stood up and the cloaking field around him vanished; it was Saturos.

As energy blasts pelted Saturos' shield, Zaitan signaled one man to flank right. The man moved to flank him, but Saturos noticed him and cast a spell. _Ashen __Conflagration!_ A crimson fireball flew at the soldier and hit him, exploding and incinerating the soldier instantly. Saturos then turned back to the other soldiers as an energy grenade landed near him. He jumped back and the explosion merely scraped his shield. He then pulled out a guardian stone and cast it. _Lerna, Multi-Strike!_ In the middle of the soldiers, Saturos' guardian appeared.

The soldiers trembled in horror as they looked on at Lerna. The guardian was an enormous serpent-like creature that had at eight heads. From four of the hydra's mouths dripped a corrosive acid, while the other four mouths constantly billowed with smoke. Each head had a Henge of Dako and Yan on its forehead, but the chest of its body was emblazoned with the symbol of the Ethos.

Saturos looked on at the soldiers as they face Lerna, then he grinned and snapped his fingers. As if on cue, Lerna attacked. Its smoking heads shot fire at the soldiers, while the others spewed acid. All around, there were the screams of soldiers fighting frantically against the hydra guardian. After about a minute, the screams were silenced, and all around the guardian there was melted rock and ashes. The only soldier left was Captain Zaitan.

Zaitan raised his blaster rifle at Lerna, but the hydra spat a ball of acid at the blaster, melting it. Zaitan stumbled back in terror, but tripped over a rock and fell over. As he tried to get up, Saturos walked up to him with his sword in hand. As Saturos looked down on the captain, he smirked.

"Who… who the hell are you?" Zaitan said nervously, noticing the Ethos' Sigil on Saturos' forehead.

"Me?" Saturos said nonchalantly. "I'm just a servant of a greater power." He then raised his sword and continued, "But for you, I am your executioner."

All around the wasteland, the sound of Zaitan's scream could be heard for miles.

--

Back inside of the lower levels of Nazmul's Keep, Crea looked around inside the abandoned science labs. As she looked around, memories kept flashing back into her mind as she remembered the training and conditioning she had to go through thirteen years before. She didn't like being back in the labs, but she had come to the keep to find anything useful Nazmul could have left behind. Eventually, Crea made her way to the weapons lab. She looked around, but at first didn't find anything particularly useful. Then, she noticed a very strange-looking suit of armor, which had been equipped with what looked like small jet thrusters at multiple points. On its shoulders were small missile launchers. Crea walked over to the armor and stared at it curiously.

"Hmm… bizarre."

Crea then noticed a terminal next to her. She quickly hacked into it and found the files on the armor she had found. The file's name for the armor was "High-Mobility Veriner-Thrust Power Armor", something Crea found a bit ridiculous. However, its function intrigued her: it was designed for airborne infantry combat, but its main propulsion system was apparently incomplete. The other systems of the armor were functional, though, which included a high-velocity maneuvering system, as well as homing missiles meant for anti-vehicle use.

"Neat."

Crea shut her eyes and her hands glowed golden. As they did, the armor turned to golden lights and the lights swirled around Crea as they entered her body. They finished with a small flash of light. As per usual, Crea's mind showed her how to use her new powers.

As the instruction in her mind finished, Crea said, "Ooh, that's handy. Maybe I should test it." Crea then looked at her surroundings and said, "Not enough room in here." She then left the room.

A few minutes later, Crea walked into a large cylindrical room. Almost instantly, Crea recalled her daily combat routines and how they had molded her into the destroyer she was today. Though she still hated Nazmul for only thinking of her as a weapon, she still knew that his training for her had been invaluable for her survival.

Crea walked into the room and the door shut behind her. Crea then looked up as several small spherical drones floated into the room. They were rather plain, with only a single glowing red eye on each, which all seemed to stare at Crea.

"Heh, a walk in the park," Crea said, as if to the drones.

The drones began to maneuver in various directions and began firing small lasers at Crea. Crea leapt to the left, avoiding the first barrage. One of the drones floated up in front of Crea and fired. As the laser neared her, a jet of energy to her right suddenly thrust Crea at a blinding speed to her left, causing the blast to miss. However, Crea did not account for a nearby wall and slammed into it with a loud thud. The impact jolted her, but she was unharmed.

"Whoa… damn, that's fast!"

Crea then turned and saw three drones move into position around her and fire. The lasers hit Crea, but they merely caused a stinging sensation. At her present power, it felt more like a pinprick. In any case, it annoyed Crea, so she fired a blast back at the drones. Almost instantly, the drones moved away and the blast missed.

"Right, they're meant to do that."

Crea pushed herself away from the wall and began floating shortly above the ground. As she began maneuvering through the area, she fired several blasts back at the drones, but they kept dodging. As they dodged, the drones returned fire, but Crea continued to use her new quick-thrust ability to dodge the blasts. In her head, Crea thought it was good practice; despite her knowledge of her new power, it was hard to control herself at such high speeds.

One of the drones flew up close behind Crea and hit her in the back with a laser. Crea growled and swung a fist around quickly. The blow hit the drone right in its singular eye, breaking it and causing the robot to clatter to the ground. A pair of drones flew in to Crea's left and fired beams at her, but she thrust backwards and avoided the blast. She retaliated with a flurry of energy blasts, which the drones were unable to dodge. They exploded and their fragments fell to the ground.

Crea turned around and saw the remaining three drones open fire on her. Crea raised a hand and a dim barrier appeared, blocking the shots. Crea felt she had done enough dodging and wanted to test the other ability the armor had given her.

Crea raised her hands at the drones, spreading out her fingers, and new symbols appeared lining her arms. Several small lights appeared on her arms in various places and shot forward in unison, streaming in random arcs at the drones. The drones moved to dodge the attack, but the beams altered their course to chase after the drones. Each one took a hit and exploded, causing their pieces to fall to the ground with a clatter. Crea lowered her arms and sighed.

"Why the hell am I doing this? I never liked fighting those things. They made every day back then a pain in the ass. Heh, I guess I'm just a sucker for nostalgia."

Crea turned around and left the room. Memories of her old training days continued to flood her mind; in particular, memories of the cruel treatments the scientists had subjected her to.

"So many memories… But I'm not their lab rat anymore."

Crea made her way to the exit to the laboratories and slowly climbed the stairs. Part of Crea wanted to destroy the lab to get rid of the terrible memories. But she decided to keep the lab standing, as a testament to what she had gone through to become who she was. It was part of who she was.

A while later, Crea found herself outside the towering castle. She turned to look at the place of her origin one last time.

"Hmm… maybe someday I'll come back…"

With that, Crea turned around and blue lights surrounded her. She then warped away.

--

Meanwhile, back inside Nazmul's private quarters, Saturos walked into the room, remarking at how Crea had managed to breach the security door. He also remarked at the destruction she had caused along the way. As he looked at the damage within the room, he walked up to the central terminal and activated it. The files Crea had accessed were on hand and almost instantly showed up before Saturos.

As he looked at the files, Saturos said, "Amazing… simply amazing. Nazmul outdid himself. Such a shame he isn't around to see just how powerful his little girl's become."

Saturos then reached into his belt and pulled out a small metallic cube the size of a spell stone. He inserted it into the machine and then typed in something on the console. As he finished, the files began downloading themselves into the small data stone. As it finished, Saturos removed the data stone and pocketed it. He then pulled out a set of spell stones and cast them. _Black Purgatory!_ A black fireball struck the console, engulfing it in a pillar of red and black flames. After the spell finished, the console was ruined.

Chuckling as he turned and walked out of the room, Saturos said, "Well then, perhaps I should witness her power in his stead, personally."

Saturos wrapped his cloak around him and vanished. But his laughter continued to echo through the halls of the keep, but the only ears to hear it were those of the dead.

**END OF CHAPTER 6**

Again, enjoy this chapter and please write a review.


	7. Venin

I took a long time to get this one done, partly to blame on university work. To those who read this, expect more long delays like this. I probably won't be uploading for half of December (exam time), and I may or may not be able to during the holidays. But as for now, enjoy reading this chapter.

**CHAPTER 7: VENIN**

The stars and moons shone down upon the cold, desolate sand in a small desert town. There were lights and a loud ruckus coming from a tavern. Out of the shadows, Saturos stepped forward and walked into the tavern. All around there was chaos; a few men were in the middle of a fistfight, while some others were recklessly spilling their drinks from inebriation. Saturos walked up to a table and seated himself. A few people watched him as he walked past them.

After a minute or so, another man in a dark robe walked up to Saturos' table and sat down next to him. The man then said, "The veil of shadows cloaks the sight of all…"

"Except those wrapped in its mystery," Saturos replied, answering the password.

"It is good to see you are well, emissary of the Ethos."

"Did you expect otherwise? You said you had information for me concerning the whereabouts of the destroyer."

"And I keep to that. She is in this very town, actually. I suspect at the moment, she is in the company of the old scientist, Doku."

"Hmm… makes sense." At this moment, Saturos stood up and reached for a pouch on his belt. He handed the pouch to the Ethos agent and said, "Remain at your post for now. You know all the details."

Saturos then turned to leave and walked out of the tavern. As he stood outside, he looked up at the stars and moons. He remarked at how they seemed to make the night imperfect, cutting through the darkness with their light. After a moment, he pushed the thought aside, and strode off into a nearby alley.

-----

The blaring sound of alarms and the flashing of red lights permeated the dark catacombs of Doku's laboratory. All around, there was rubble and broken scrap from security systems. In several corridors, a number of security guards lay on the ground in various locations, wounded or otherwise.

In the main lab, Doku ran inside, scared out of his wits. He quickly shut the massive door and activated a panel next to it. Several metal blast shields slid into place, strengthening the door. Doku then ran back from the door and stopped at a console. He typed away at it frantically, and several blaster turrets readied themselves on the ceiling. As Doku finished, he turned to the blast door, sweat trickling down his face. Despite all he was doing, he knew he was likely a dead man.

After a moment, a large explosion blew the doorway open. Doku shielded his eyes from the blast. As the smoke billowed from the doorway, a figure appeared in the smoke. Immediately, the blaster turrets on the ceiling fired at the figure. As they did, a golden dome of energy appeared, blocking the blaster fire and dispersing the smoke. In the middle of the dome was Crea. Noticing the turrets, Crea systematically aimed a hand at each one and one by one destroyed the blasters with well-placed energy shots. Soon, all the blaster turrets were destroyed.

Crea stood still for a moment as Doku looked on in dismay. She then turned toward him and began slowly walking at him. Doku, almost panicking, raised his mechanical hand and it fired a beam of energy. Crea's shield deflected the beam, and then she quickly fired a small pulse at Doku's mechanical hand. Doku yelped in pain as the metal hand was blown apart and he held the metal stump, as though it were a real hand that had been destroyed.

"Seriously, Doku," said Crea, "is that all you can throw at me? I expected far better from someone like you."

Amidst grunts of pain, Doku said, "I would have made better accommodations were I expecting company, protoform."

"Still insisting on calling me that, old man?"

"That is what you have always been. Despite your power, you are still just a construct of Megalith Sigil energy, nothing like us humans or other species. You may think, feel, and be able to decide like us, but those things are merely constructs as well! Cheap imitations of the real thing, fitting for a– GAK!"

At this point, Crea had walked right up in front of Doku and grabbed him by the neck. She dragged Doku to a pillar and thrust his back to it as he tried to struggle free.

"Nazmul always said despite your genius," said Crea, "you never were that smart."

"Go ahead!" Doku gagged. "Finish it!"

"If I had come here to kill you, you'd be dead already."

"Then, why have you come?!"

"I'm looking for my old man. Where is Nazmul?"

"Gah! Why should I tell you that?!"

"Why? Okay, I'll give you a 'why'. Because I can make this go two ways: one, you could tell me now and make it easy for yourself, or two," Crea held up an energy-charged hand at this point, "I could make this excruciatingly unpleasant."

For a moment, Doku said nothing. Crea then smirked as a surge of energy left her hand and channeled into Doku's body. He screamed in agony as the energy coursed through him, causing unbelievable and unbearable pain.

"Where is Nazmul?!" Crea shouted.

After another moment of screams, Doku yelled, "I– I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!!"

"LIAR!!"

"IT'S THE TRUTH, I SWEAR! NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO LORD NAZMUL SINCE THE MEGALITH'S RETURN!"

Crea, not expecting such a response, stopped surging energy into Doku. He gasped breathlessly and began gasping in pain.

"What do you mean?" Crea growled. "Answer me!"

Amidst his painful breaths, Doku said, "A rumor has passed around recently that Lord Nazmul had been slain by the Di-Gata Defenders. I do not know the details, but the news came from several mercenaries who had seen the rebirth of the Megalith in the Spell Zone."

After a pause, Crea pushed Doku away from her. Doku fell to the ground and clutched his throat, gasping for air. Crea then said, "Nazmul… is dead? And… the Defenders killed him?"

Amidst hoarse breathing, Doku said, "That is the assumption. He has not been seen or heard from in more than a week. The whole Order of Infinis crumbled since Brackus' insurrection. If I didn't hear the news myself, I'd have sworn that Brackus killed Lord Nazmul!"

At this point, Crea's mind began to swell up with anger. Despite knowing the news she had just heard was only a rumor, something inside Crea told her that Nazmul was indeed gone. She had unfinished business with her creator, but now she wouldn't get the chance to see him.

"The Defenders…" Crea said, seething with anger. "They killed him…? The Di-Gata Defenders… they… AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!! DAMMMMMMMMIT!!!"

Crea screamed angrily as energy surged around her, wrecking everything around her and sending Doku sprawling across the floor. For nearly a minute, Crea continued to snarl angrily, unable to accept the fact that she could not exact her retribution on Nazmul. After a moment, Crea finally managed to calm herself down, if only slightly. The energy began to recede and soon vanished.

After a moment, Crea heard Doku chuckle and say, "Incredible…! Your power has surpassed anything I could have imagined. Truly, you were Lord Nazmul's finest creation."

"And yet the old bastard could only see me as a weapon. All he cared about for me was my destructive power, nothing else! And now, I'll never get the chance to pay him back for it!"

Crea stormed out of Doku's inner laboratory, leaving the aged scientist on the floor, thankful to still be alive. Once he was sure Crea was out of earshot, Doku said, "You are so certain of that, Crea? Sad… you know not the truth of Lord Nazmul…"

As Crea continued through the hallways of the dilapidated laboratory, several thoughts continued to race through her mind. She wasn't sure what she was going to do next, since she now could not destroy Nazmul herself. The thought of it still infuriated her, but she managed to keep her rage in check.

Soon, Crea reached the exit to the lab and she entered the cold, dark street. Crea looked up at the night sky and the sight of the stars and moons slightly calmed her. After a moment of watching the sky, she walked out of the town and into the desert. After she was out of sight, a figure walked into the light of the stars from a nearby alleyway. It was Saturos. He grinned as he saw small trails of smoke leave the hallways of Doku's laboratory, concluding that only Crea could have caused such destruction. Noticing her trail of recent footprints in the sand, Saturos began following them into the desert.

-----

Out in the middle of the desert, night was beginning to fade above a small oasis. On a nearby sand dune, Crea walked into view and eyed the oasis. She walked into it and kneeled over next to a pool of water in the middle of it. Crea placed her hand into the water and instantly felt cold rush through her hand.

At that moment, Crea couldn't get Doku's cryptic words out of her head. "_You may think, feel, and be able to decide like us, but those things are merely constructs…_"

Crea removed her hand from the water and after a moment said, "Why is it I feel things like humans do? Are these feelings even real?"

Crea pondered over the words Doku had said to her. Even though he had been trying to mess with Crea's head, his words were still quite true: she wasn't human. Nazmul had only made her in a human form, but Crea didn't know why. And because she was a fake human, Crea couldn't be sure whether her thoughts or emotions were real or false. If they were false, why did Nazmul give her emotions or the ability to think for herself? The more Crea thought about it, the less it seemed to make sense.

As she continued to think over Doku's words and the concept of her emotions and thoughts, she seated herself next to the pool of water and looked at her reflection. She then said, "Why did you make me like this? You could've made me into something else, something more powerful. So why a human form?"

As Crea finished speaking, she swiped a hand at her reflection, which vanished amidst the ripples of water. Crea turned away from the water and wrapped her arms around her knees. For a while, she continued to sulk over why Nazmul had cursed her with a human body.

Crea then thought back to Nazmul's recordings and recalled Nazmul's words: "_The human being is a cunning, clever, and decisive species._" The knowledge of such made things come a bit into perspective for Crea; Nazmul had designed her as such because of humanity's intellect and ability of reasoning, instead of using another form that would have relied on raw power or some other advantage. The concept of it both seemed reasonable, yet strange, to Crea. But still, it didn't answer the whole picture; there were surely other beings superior to humans in those regards.

Suddenly, Crea straightened up as she felt a presence approach her. The thing was, Crea had felt this presence before; it had been following her for the past week, but she didn't know who it was. Crea rose quickly to her feet and spun around toward the energy source, inside a set of trees.

"Hmm, how quick of you to notice my presence," came a voice. A man wearing a black hood and cloak stepped out of the tree shadows. It was Saturos.

As Crea looked at Saturos, she felt a strange energy emanating from him. It was like the energy of Sigils, but it wasn't like any Sigil she knew of. Also, his energy was very strong and had a dark aura to it that made Crea slightly uneasy.

Saturos then continued, "I expected no less from you, Cretia."

This surprised Crea, but she hid her surprise as best she could. She then said, "How do you know my name? Whoever the hell you are…"

"Pardon my rudeness. My name is Saturos. I am a servant of a greater power, one that soon will make itself known to the Realm."

"Whatever. What's with you following me for the past week?"

"Hmm… straight to the point. Very well, if you must know, I have been—as you put it—following you, though for longer than you have said. You see, my masters have taken an interest in your unique abilities. They feel that your talents would serve a much greater purpose under their guidance. Until now, I have merely been their eyes and ears concerning the matter, but now I act as a voice for them as well. My masters, the Dark Lords of the Ethos, wish to extend to you an offering to enter our fold. You are clearly a warrior without equal, and with the aid of my masters, surely you would become feared and respected throughout Rados."

There was a short pause, and then to Saturos' surprise, Crea starting laughing. After a moment, Crea then said, "You must not tell them very much. You think I don't know about the Ethos?" Crea's voice then took a far more serious tone as she said, "Let me make this clear to you: I am nobody's servant! My life is my own, and I don't take orders from anyone else. That will never change. Go back to the Ethos and tell them that."

Crea then turned and began to stride away, but then Saturos said, "I had a feeling you would say such a thing. So did my masters, so they gave me another order."

As Saturos finished, he reached for his side and drew his sword. At this moment, Crea turned around and looked as Saturos assumed a stance.

Saturos then said, "They said that if you were to refuse their offer, I am to kill you."

Amused by Saturos' boldness, Crea laughed and then said, "You can't be serious. If you've been following me for so long…" Crea raised a hand at Saturos as she said, "you should know just how dangerous I am."

Crea fired a blast at Saturos. Just before the blast struck, Saturos tilted his sword in front of him and it blocked the shot. Crea was startled by how quickly Saturos had moved; it had only been a few inches away from him when he moved his blade. His reflexes were like lightning, and it was as though he knew exactly where and how to move the sword.

Crea quickly recovered from her surprise and fired several more blasts at Saturos. He deflected a few, showing similar reflexes and movements, but also dodged some with short, quick movements. Irritated, Crea raised her other arm and began to fire pulses more rapidly. Again, Saturos continued to dodge and block impressively. At one instance, Saturos swatted a shot, nearly hitting Crea with the deflected bolt of energy. Crea saw it coming in time and barely dodged the shot, but was forced to stop her attack in the process.

Noticing the look of aggravation on Crea's face, he said, "Not bad… you show an excellent ability to control Sigil energy for your attacks. Your accuracy, however, leaves much to be desired."

Angered by this insult, Crea spread her fingers apart and a pattern appeared lining her arms. She then said, "Dodge this!" Several arcing lights shot out of her arms and streamed toward Saturos.

Saturos narrowly managed to dodge some of the attacks, but realized the shots were following his movements. As he dodged some blasts while deflecting others with his blade, Saturos quickly pulled out a set of shield stones and cast them. _Barricade Array!_ A set blue energy discs appeared before Saturos in a grid and the remaining projectiles hit them, causing very little damage. The small shields began to swirl around Saturos, protecting him from all sides.

Crea stopped her homing attack and spread her arms to her sides. As she did, flames sprouted from her hands, and in a swift movement she threw the two fireballs in flaming arcs at Saturos. One of the fireballs hit the ground in front of him, spreading flames about the area, while the other streaked right at Saturos. Saturos readied his blade and swung it, slicing the fireball in two. The halves passed around him and hit two nearby trees, engulfing them in fire.

As Saturos looked back toward Crea he saw her dash toward him, propelled by an energy burst behind her. A blade of energy formed around Crea's right arm and she swung it at Saturos, but he blocked it with his sword. Almost instantly, Crea swung her left arm, attempting to strike Saturos with her fist. Almost instantly, Saturos reacted by deflecting Crea's fist with his arm, catching her in an awkward position in which she couldn't follow up her attack.

Saturos chuckled amidst grunts and said, "Impressive. But you leave your defenses open as you attack!"

At that moment, Saturos turned his sword arm and pushed forward, forcing Crea's blade away from him. He then swung in an upward motion at Crea, but with a sudden thrust of energy she flew back, freeing herself from Saturos' grip. As Crea stopped a short distance from him, she winced in pain as she clutched her face with her left hand. She then looked at her reflection in the water next to her; there was a long narrow cut running down her left cheek, energy slowly leaking from it. She quickly realized how fortunate she had been to have dodged most of the strike; it otherwise would have cleaved her in two.

Saturos then turned his blade so the flat side faced Crea. The blade had several Henges, some which had part of the new Sigil as part of the Henge, engraved in it. Angered, Crea looked back at Saturos as the wound in her cheek sealed itself with green lights. After looking at the blade, she realized it was enchanted. The wound on her cheek soon vanished, but Crea still winced from the pain for a short moment.

"You're at quite a disadvantage here, Crea. I know everything there is to know about your present powers. But you know nothing about me."

"I know you'll bleed like anyone else!"

Saturos then quickly cast a spell at Crea. _Demon Conflagration!_ A fireball shot at Crea, who quickly performed an energy dash to her left. The shot landed where Crea once was, creating a large explosion. Caught in the blast, Crea flew into a tree, hitting it with a loud thud and falling to her knees. She then clutched her right shoulder; she had several wounds in her side leaking energy. Green lights were steadily repairing the damage, but the pain was stifling.

As Crea slowly stood up, she heard Saturos say, "I believe a man once said: Know thy enemies as well as you know thyself."

"Do you plan to keep talking poetry shit or are you gonna fight?" Crea spat.

Crea, her wounds having sealed up, got to her feet as the energy blade surrounding her right arm vanished. At that moment, Saturos cast another spell. _Dark Evisceration!_ A mass of black energy shot at Crea, who quickly created a barrier in response. The black mass wrapped itself around the glowing dome; Crea could only watch as the energy began to tear her barrier to shreds. Acting quickly, Crea thrust out her arms to her sides and streams of energy surged to her sides, blasting away the dark energy. After a moment, the black bubble surrounding her burst and the dark energy dissipated.

Crea then swung her arms forward as she kicked off the ground and floated sideways, shooting a widespread barrage of energy blasts at Saturos. Saturos raised his sword and blocked several shots with it, while some of his small shields intercepted others. Throughout her attack, Crea slowly closed the gap between herself and Saturos. As she reached him, Crea stopped shooting and quickly swung her left arm in a fist at Saturos' head. He leaned to the side and the blow missed. Then, with his sword arm, Saturos pushed Crea's shoulder in a motion that sent her stumbling forward. Crea recovered then jumped as she quickly swung around in a kick. Unable to dodge, Saturos raised his free arm and blocked the blow with his wrist. Crea sprung off his arm and landed a short distance from Saturos.

At that point, Crea realized Saturos was far more dangerous than she had expected. She had not thought a human could be such a potent enemy, but it seemed as though Saturos was an exception.

"You're starting to piss me off," said Crea.

"Oh, but I'm just getting started, Crea," said Saturos snidely.

At that moment, Saturos pulled out a Guardian stone and cast it. _Lerna, Multi-Strike!_ The massive form of Saturos' hydra guardian appeared before Crea. The guardian hissed loudly at Crea. Then, from its four smoking heads, Lerna spewed streams of dark fire from its mouths at her. Crea thrust her hands forward in a stance, her fingers pointed at the flames. The flames broke away around Crea as they struck her hands, causing little damage. The hydra stopped its flaming attack, but almost instantly its other four heads shifted forward and from their mouths spewed a stream of acid. Crea jumped back, but as she landed she gasped in pain as she stumbled forward and clutched her leg. Part of her leg had been burned by acid, but the wound was already sealing itself. Crea looked back at where she once was and saw the acid burning away the sand beneath it.

As her leg finished repairing, Crea looked up to see two of the hydra's heads rushing at her with their fangs bared. Crea quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. She then leapt to the side as another of the heads lunged at her from above. As she landed, Crea turned just as another head rushed at her, too close to dodge. Crea raised her hands and using her arms and legs she attempted to hold back the hydra's fangs, which were attempting to crush her. As Crea held back the guardian's fangs, she looked into its long throat and saw a red glow brightening in the hydra's mouth.

"Ah, shit…!"

Crea quickly pushed away the upper fangs and kicked away from the snakelike head, which spewed dark flames at the sky. As she flew back, Crea opened her hands and a pair of glowing golden rings of energy appeared in them. Upon landing, she tossed the rings, which struck two of the hydra's necks, severing the heads. As the heads fell to the ground flailing, their stumps leaking green energy, they dematerialized and vanished.

Crea readied herself for whatever would happen next. She then noticed Saturos behind Lerna; he was grinning and laughing silently. Before Crea could determine why, she heard the sound of Lerna hissing loudly and turned toward the guardian. The two stumps that had just had their heads severed were bulging, as though something were about to burst through the skin. The stumps burst open and from each one emerged two new serpent heads on long necks. The guardian now had ten heads.

"Great… just great…"

Lerna once again breathed streams of fire and acid at Crea. Crea jumped back, using an energy boost to increase her distance. Lerna stopped its attack and began to slither forward, its many heads tilted downward menacingly. Crea fired a salvo of pulses at Lerna, aiming for its torso area. As the blasts flew at it, Lerna moved its heads in front of the blasts. Each head intercepted a blast and was destroyed as a result. But just as quickly as they had been blown off, they grew back with new heads. Soon, the hydra had around sixteen snakelike heads.

Behind Lerna, Saturos laughed and shouted, "I'm sure you've heard this one, Crea."

He then snapped his fingers and Lerna spit acid from its mouths upwards. The acid rained down about the area in a widespread spray, like rain, making it impossible to dodge. Crea raised her arms and a barrier appeared which held back the rain. But as the acid rain continued to shower around Crea, Lerna lowered its flaming heads and in unison they sprayed streams of fire directly at her. The streams seemed to converge into one massive fire wave, which struck Crea's barrier.

Crea then heard Saturos shout, "There's strength in numbers, right?"

As Saturos finished, Crea's barrier strained under the power of Lerna's attack and shattered. The full force of the fire stream struck Crea, who screamed as she flew back into the dense trees that made up part of the oasis. Crea fell out of Saturos' sight when she crashed to the ground. Moaning in pain, Crea slowly pushed herself upright. Her body was covered in severe burns and her cape had been incinerated.

Growling, Crea said, "I'm getting really sick of this bastard."

As Crea tried to stand up, energy surges began to spark across her body, and she knelt over in pain. Crea knew her power was weakening.

"Ah… fuck…"

Meanwhile, outside the trees, Saturos turned to his guardian and said, "Smoke her out." The hydra instantly complied, spitting fire at the trees, setting them ablaze.

Inside the trees, Crea looked up to see the flames begin to engulf her cover. Knowing she had to act quickly, Crea thrust a hand at a nearby tree stump. As it touched, her hand began to glow golden and energy began to siphon out of the tree into her body. Shortly afterward, though, flames began to flicker around Crea. She removed her hand and dashed away from the fire.

Crea stopped outside of the tree cover, but out of sight of Saturos and his guardian. Crea knew she was in a tight spot; she hadn't been able to recharge completely from the tree, and Saturos' guardian was a truly dangerous opponent, along with Saturos himself. Crea carefully considered her options; she first thought to retreat for the moment, but just as quickly pushed the thought of such a thing out of her head. Crea wasn't about to run if she could help it. She planned to win the battle.

Nearby the burning trees, Lerna slithered about looking for its prey. Behind the guardian, Saturos looked around the area. He was certain Crea was not down and out yet. Suddenly he heard a loud whooshing sound and turned to see a tornado moving about the area. But the tornado wasn't moving at Saturos or his guardian; rather, it just seemed to be kicking up sand and ash. It didn't take long for Saturos to realize what was going on, but he knew he could not prevent it. Soon, the tornado vanished, and the whole area was covered in a thick cloud of dust, sand and ash. Meanwhile, Lerna looked around in confusion, unable to see anything with its many heads.

Saturos then smiled and shouted, "How clever of you, Crea. But Lerna doesn't need to see you; she can smell you." As Saturos finished, Lerna began flickering its many snake tongues in various directions, attempting to pick up Crea's scent.

A moment passed, but the hydra did not find anything. As his guardian searched around, Saturos looked about, attempting to find any sign of Crea amidst the sand cloud. He then stopped as he heard a faint sound. The sound was barely audible, but it sounded like something was charging up energy. Quickly realizing the threat, Saturos turned back toward his guardian just as a bolt of lightning flew through the sand cloud and struck the hydra. Lerna hissed loudly as the electricity scorched its body and, in a flash of light, the guardian vanished. The hydra's stone reappeared and Saturos caught it in his hand.

"Clever girl," Saturos said to himself.

At this point, Saturos had realized Crea's plot. It was never her intent to use the dust cloud to conceal herself; the cloud was just a trick while she readied an attack. Crea's choice in attacks was obvious to Saturos; no matter where his guardian was hit, a bolt of lightning would have the same effect. Saturos smirked, intrigued by Crea's simple, yet brilliant strategy.

Saturos' train of thought was cut off as several bursts of energy flew forward at him, breaking apart the dust cloud. His shields moved in front and took the blasts, shattering with each hit. The clouds cleared, showing Crea as she ran at Saturos. Saturos cast a spell at her. _Arrow of Ethos!_ A glowing black and red arrow flew at Crea, who swung her left arm at it, an energy blade forming around her arm in mid-swing. The blade sliced the arrow in two, and Crea continued rushing at Saturos. Saturos raised his sword, ready to clash with Crea again.

As Crea neared him, she suddenly swerved to the left, to Saturos' surprise. Crea swung her right hand, which had a golden energy thread coming out of her fingertips, at Saturos. He parried the blow, but Crea quickly swung again and again, putting Saturos on the defensive. She then leapt forward at Saturos, the thread vanishing, and lunged with her blade. Saturos stepped to the side and dodged the blow. Crea pulled back quickly as Saturos countered, blocking his strike with her blade. Saturos then made a series of quick jabs at Crea, all which she blocked with her own blade.

One strike nearly hit Crea in the forehead, but she quickly parried the strike and the blade passed over her head, cutting off a few strands of her long blue hair. Almost instantly after his strike, Saturos cast another spell at Crea. _Black Purgatory!_ A black and crimson fireball flew at Crea's feet, but she saw it coming and a boost of energy thrust her back. As the fireball landed, a pillar of black and red flame erupted. It soon passed; the sand where it had hit was turned to glass.

Crea leapt forward at Saturos again and swung her blade, but again he parried. Just after their blades clashed, Crea thrust out her right hand, which had an energy charge in it. Saturos was left unable to dodge the blow, so his shields moved in front to take the blast. All of Saturos' shields shattered and some of the attack breached the wall they made. Saturos flew back, but in a quick reflex he flipped and landed on his feet. As he stopped, his legs buckled and he knelt on one knee.

"Urgh… damnation…" Saturos hissed, but his voice strangely seemed darker than usual.

Saturos clutched his side with his free hand. There was a scorch mark on the side of his chest, and he breathed hoarsely from the pain. He slowly stood up, but his wound seemed to be affecting him. Crea saw his weakness and charged forward, her sword ready to end Saturos' life. Saturos quickly let go of his wounded side and cast a spell. _Twilight Shroud!_ A black cloud of dense fog instantly spread out, blocking Crea's vision. Crea continued to run at where Saturos was, and as she reached the spot she swung hard with her blade. But the blade hit only air; Saturos was gone. Crea looked about as the dark clouds cleared, but Saturos had seemingly disappeared.

As Crea looked around for Saturos, she heard his echoing voice say, "Another time perhaps. Until then, please stay alive and save me the pleasure of killing you."

Infuriated, Crea shouted, "COWARD! COME BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!"

There was no response. Crea stood for a moment, seething from Saturos' retreat. She could no longer sense his presence; it was as though he vanished into thin air. After a moment, though, Crea calmed down and the blade around her arm vanished.

Suddenly, Crea felt a great weariness wash through her, and she knelt down next to the oasis' pool of water. For a few minutes, Crea stayed on her knees breathing heavily with exhaustion. The fight had taken a great deal out of her and she hadn't even finished it.

"Dammit… a mere human nearly beat me? How could such a weak species be so strong?"

Having some of her strength return to her, Crea's breathing became lighter. She rolled over onto her back, still tired, and lowered her head into the oasis' water pool. The cold water spread about her long blue hair across the surface, but Crea didn't care for the temperature. Too many thoughts were rushing through her head at that moment. She could not understand how Saturos was so powerful, even with the magic of a Sigil she knew nothing about.

Crea then thought she might have underestimated the strength of humanity. For so long, Crea thought humans were an incredibly weak species, and for this reason she could not understand why she had been made in a human's likeness. It had never occurred to her that humans could be exceptionally powerful. The thought of it first seemed preposterous to her, but after thinking about how strong Saturos was, Crea began to think the idea was plausible. She then thought about the Di-Gata Defenders; they were all humans and they were quite strong, especially for ones so young.

"Hmm… humans… are they stronger than I'd thought? Is that why Nazmul made me like this?"

Crea sighed, unsure if it really was Nazmul's reason. Something kept making Crea think that Nazmul had more than one reason for making her like a human. It was at that moment that Crea remembered her thoughts prior to her battle. She had been questioning whether her thoughts and emotions were real or not. For about another half-hour, Crea lay on the sand with her head still in the pool of water, continuing to ponder the subject.

Then, Crea finally said, "Maybe… maybe he would know…"

Crea got to her feet, her energy having returned to her, and then realized how her hair had been drenched. Crea found the cold chill of the water refreshing as it slid down her back, but only for a moment. She ran a hand through her hair, squeezing out the water. As she finished, Crea noticed the sun's first light begin to shine down on the oasis. As the sun shone into her eyes, Crea raised a hand to block the light. After a moment, Crea turned toward the horizon and spread out her arms. A small series of lights swirled around her and a new red cape formed on her back.

Upon finishing, Crea said, "Only one way to find out." Blue lights then surrounded Crea and she vanished in a flash of light.

-----

Back in the desert village, four armed guards, one of them an officer, stood outside the entrance to Doku's lab. Two of them appeared injured; one had a broken arm and a bandaged forehead, while the other had bandages around his ribs. Each one of them was alert, as though expecting something.

After a moment, one of the injured guards turned to his comrades and said, "You know, I have no idea why the hell we're still out here. That girl already tore up the place, for whatever reason, and now we're stationed out here as if the boss thinks she's gonna come back."

"Yeah, what's with that?" said the unharmed guard. "What kind of person would tear apart a place once and then come back to wreck it up again?"

"Seriously, I can't believe I'm doing this. Little bitch broke my arm with one hit, but all I get are these crummy bandages. I'll be lucky if I can ever move this arm again."

"You said it," the second injured guard said amidst grunts of pain. "I'm going to be sore for months. But at least she probably won't trouble us anymore."

"See, that's my point," said the first injured guard. "If she's not coming back, why are we standing guard out here as if she were? It's stupid."

"No more complaints out of you maggots," said the officer. "We're out here because it's Master Doku's orders. He wants us to guard the entrance, so that's what we're gonna do. Understood?"

"Yes sir," the other three guards said in unison. They then settled down, amidst grumbling.

A moment later a set of flickering blue lights began to appear before the entrance to the lab. The second injured guard saw the lights as they converged on a single spot.

"Hey!" he said curiously. "Hey, guys! Look at that!"

The other guards turned to watch as the blue lights massed together. As they massed, there was a flash of light as Crea warped in. The guards instantly recoiled in horror at the sight of her.

Crea, noticing the guards, said, "Hi there."

After a brief pause, the guards regained their composure and pointed their blaster rifles at Crea. In a quick movement, Crea swung an arm and shot several small pulses at the guards. Each shot struck the guards' blasters, knocking them out of their hands. As Crea lowered her arm, she walked forward at the guards. The subordinate guards fled, but the officer merely stood as he watched his comrades flee. As he turned back to Crea, she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him toward her.

As the officer struggled to escape, Crea said, "Where's your boss? He and I need to have a little chat."

"Haven't you made my life miserable enough already, protoform?" came Doku's crooked voice, though it was somewhat distorted.

Crea looked up and saw Doku's face on a video screen, staring down at her. His expression was of both disdain and irritation. Crea knew, however, that Doku was trying very hard to hide his fear of her.

"I wasn't aware that I was making things worse for you, Doku," said Crea. "You already seem to be wallowing away in that hole of yours."

"What do you want from me? I already told you, Lord Nazmul is gone."

"This isn't about Nazmul, old man. There's something else I need to know. About myself…"

Doku paused for a moment, and then said, "Ahh… I see…"

At that moment, Crea turned as a glowing green portal appeared near her and Doku walked out of it, flanked by two armed guards. After a moment, Crea smiled and released her grip on the officer's neck. As he fell to the ground, the officer scrambled away in a panic, vanishing inside the laboratory entrance.

"You were in charge of regular analysis and study over me when I was just Nazmul's pet project," said Crea. "As such, you'd be just the person to provide the answers I'm looking for."

"Then ask away, protoform," said Doku.

The two guards behind Doku looked at each other, not knowing what was going on. Crea noticed them and said, "First, they leave. This is between you and me."

Doku paused for a moment, then turned and gestured his guards away. Obeying, the guards entered the portal and vanished. The portal closed behind them. As soon as they were gone, Doku turned back towards Crea.

Crea then said, "I want to know the truth about what you said earlier. About me, my mind, my emotions. Is what you said about me true? Are my thoughts and feelings artificial, like my body?"

Doku did not say anything for a moment, only humming in thought as he stroked his beard. Then, he said, "That is a question for which I too was unsure of the answer for a time. That is, until that day…"

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm… you must not remember it. When Lord Nazmul first created you, you were like some mindless demon. All you knew how to do was fight and kill. Lord Nazmul's magic was really the only thing that kept you from destroying everything around you. Despite your seemingly mindless nature, however, you did show some initiative in terms of adapting to certain combat situations. Still, you were nothing like you are today. For one, you did not have that insufferable arrogance."

Doku looked at Crea at this point, as though expecting retribution for his insult. Instead, though, Crea smiled in amusement and said, "Go on."

"Hmm, um, yes. For the first few weeks of analysis on you, it was assumed that your mentality would be much like that of a machine's. Easily controlled and without originality. Yet my studies slowly made me doubt you would be like that. You showed… a sort of cleverness in combat, much like a Lord of Infinis would. For example, if you couldn't defeat an enemy through sheer force, you would exploit a weak point in your target's defenses. Some of the ways you fought were truly marvelous."

"Get to the point already."

"Ah yes, of course. About three weeks after Lord Nazmul created you, I was in the middle of one of your diagnostic tests. I'm sure you remember them."

"How could I forget?"

"It was after the diagnostic that some rather intriguing occurred. As I was making my report, I noticed you toying with some of the lab tools. You handled it quite carelessly, injuring yourself in the process. Though you quickly repaired the damage that was not what interested me. Curiously, you had felt the injury. You had felt pain. "

Neither one of the two said anything for a moment. Then Crea said, "How are you so sure?"

"I could tell from the look in your eyes and your expression. It was so… human."

Crea took this news with surprise. Even though her memory had been returned to her, she could not remember such a thing. Nazmul's entries on her never mentioned something like that. It was a little hard to believe, but a part of Crea thought it was true.

After a moment, Crea said, "How come that was never mentioned in Nazmul's files? I read them only a short while ago at his keep."

Doku sighed and then said, "Despite my loyalty to Lord Nazmul, I felt it was best he did not know all the details on such a development. After all, he was making you into a weapon of war. I feared that such news would have thrown the project in jeopardy and that Lord Nazmul would have disposed of you. I did not want to see such effort go to waste, so I kept such a development from him."

"Nazmul was no fool. You couldn't have kept something like that from him for long."

"How true. Lord Nazmul found out quickly during one of your combat routines. You quickly showed that you could feel pain. However, Lord Nazmul's reaction was far different from what I had expected. In fact, such a development pleased him. Though I am not completely sure, I have one idea as to why that was…"

"Why…?"

Doku hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Perhaps Lord Nazmul saw you… as if you were his own child."

"What…?"

"He was always so proud when you made progress in the labs. He seemed to have some joy in watching your power grow. But when you rebelled and fled his keep, I saw something in him I had never seen before… shame."

"Shame?"

"Perhaps he was ashamed of your rebellion, or that his enchantments had failed to keep you in check. As I said, I am not sure. It is merely a suspicion on my part. That is something only Lord Nazmul would have known."

"And now he's gone… I guess I'll never be sure… just as I don't know "

The two were silent for a moment, then Doku walked up to Crea and said, "Crea, despite how Lord Nazmul may have made you, or why he made you the way you are, one thing is a fact in it all. Your mind is your own, and nothing that I, Lord Nazmul, or anyone else could do will change that. You are your own individual being, like us all."

Crea looked directly at Doku, not expecting such wisdom from him. From what she could remember, Doku had always been a scientific person, brilliant, but not necessarily wise. The wisdom of his words surprised her; they had great meaning.

Crea shut her eyes and smiled as she said, "Thank you, Lord Doku. I've learned what I needed to know."

Crea opened her eyes and then turned toward the street. As she started walking down the street, Crea added, "I won't trouble you any further."

As Crea walked down the sand-covered street, she heard Doku say, "Hold on." Crea turned around to see Doku pull out a strange device from his belt. He then presented it to Crea and said, "Take this visor. Perhaps it will be useful for whatever future you have planned."

"Why give it to me, Doku? You know what I'll do with it."

"Consider it a gift. But please, I ask one thing of you."

"And what is that?"

"If you should cross paths with the Di-Gata Defenders, please make their deaths particularly agonizing."

Crea paused for a moment, and then walked over to Doku. She took the visor device in her hand, which began to glow a golden light. The visor soon dispersed into small white lights, which entered Crea's body. As the process finished, Doku smiled.

Crea then turned back to the street and said, "How I'll deal with the Defenders is up to me. But I may take up that request, if I feel like it."

Crea then strode off into the street as Doku watched. After a moment, blue lights surrounded Crea, and she vanished. As the last of the lights disappeared, Doku tapped a button on his mechanical hand, and a green portal opened next to him. He entered the portal, which closed behind him.

-----

Out in the desert, Saturos breathed heavily as he nursed his wounds. The battle with Crea had taken its toll on him, but he had been through worse. But it wasn't his wounds that frustrated him; he cursed himself for being careless in his fight. He had misjudged Crea's strength and paid for it. But the idea of an eventual second chance against her tempered his frustration.

Saturos removed a small vial from his belt and quickly drank its contents. He then tossed aside the vial, which shattered on the rocky floor. As the vial's contents coursed through his body, Saturos' burns and injuries faded away, healing with incredible speed. As his wounds vanished, Saturos held out his hand and shut his eyes. A glowing black and violet sphere appeared in his hand, soon forming into a crystal orb. As he focused, the orb filled with dark clouds, which soon parted, revealing Saturos' masters.

"How fares your pursuit of the destroyer?" said the first Ethos.

"My lords," Saturos said amidst stifled grunts. "Crea has refused our offer."

"That is unfortunate," said the second Ethos.

"I suspected as such," the third Ethos said to his counterparts, "yet you would not heed my warning! The girl is far too powerful! She must be destroyed!"

"Regrettably," said Saturos, "Crea is far more powerful than I had expected. I was unable to defeat her…"

Growling, the first Ethos said, "You may have doomed us all, Saturos! With her as our enemy, she may ruin everything!"

"Only if given the proper motivation, my lord. She may be hostile towards me, but she does not necessarily seek our destruction. Moreover…"

At that moment, Saturos produced a small vial from his belt, presenting it to the orb. It contained a few strands of dark blue hair.

"We may not require her allegiance to us," Saturos finished.

After a pause, the second Ethos said, "Well done, Blade of Ethos. Such an asset will serve our purposes suitably. Have it returned to us immediately then continue your observations of the girl."

"As you wish, my lords."

"May the darkness of Ethos guide your path," said the third Ethos.

Dark clouds enveloped the image in the orb, and then there was nothing. The orb vanished from Saturos' hand, and he pocketed the vial containing Crea's preserved hairs. As he began to leave, he grunted in pain and quickly grabbed the side of his chest where Crea had struck him.

A moment later, Saturos said, "Clever girl… clever indeed."

Recovering, Saturos wrapped his cloak around him and vanished. Across the vast sands of the desert, only Saturos' footprints hinted at his destination.

**END OF CHAPTER 7**

Reviews are appreciated. I had to really shift around this chapter from its original form.


	8. Vengeance

Oi... long time between updates...

This chapter took me awhile to modify, primarily because I chose to change the ending from what people are familiar with. To those who read this story on the Di-Gata Defender forums, this chapter has been significantly changed, in that I'm going in a new direction for this story than what I'd originally done.

Either way, I hope you will enjoy this chapter, and leave a review.

**CHAPTER 8: VENGEANCE**

The wind silently blew at the border of the North Veltlands, causing the blades of grass and the trees to rustle. The sky was clear, but there was an ominous silence. In one section of the area, there was a vast quarry of large stones, each adorned with various Sigils. Near the edge of the quarry was a tall mound, from which one could see for miles. At the top of the mound, a blue-haired girl stared down at the quarry.

Crea surveyed the area; it was a marvelous view, but she wasn't there for the scenery. She had come seeking out the Di-Gata Defenders, and knew they were somewhere in the quarry below. As she looked down at the massive stones below, she shut her eyes for a moment. Her eyes changed from white to black, the irises turning red in the design of the Altas Sigil, which seemed to change in size. From her point of view, she could now see the quarry with greater focus as it magnified.

As she looked around at the magnified quarry, something caught her attention. It was a young boy dressed in a gray outfit, with white hair bound in a headband that had three oval-shaped stones adorning it. Crea recognized him; he had been with the Defenders before when the Megalith had been destroyed. Crea knew the Defenders were close.

She shut her eyes again as she said, "I've finally found you."

Crea opened her eyes again, revealing their usual lavender irises and white pupils. She slowly walked toward the edge of the mound and lightly jumped off. As she descended, she neatly sprung off several jutting rocks in the side of the mound, eventually reaching the ground. She then started to run toward the nearest set of rocks, moving as silently as she could.

Though she could have just teleported into the area, Crea did not want to give the element of surprise. She had learned from her previous battle with the Defenders that they were not to be underestimated. Even with her newfound powers, she wanted to have every advantage she could get. Crea looked about the quarry as she advanced, looking for any sign of the Defenders. She could now sense they were near, but couldn't pinpoint where they were yet. But she knew she was getting closer.

She had waited for this day for some time now…

-----

Crea's mind flashed back to the outskirts of Arboth, where she had been only about a day prior. She was standing atop a mound, looking down on the people hard at work rebuilding their town. Next to her was Maia, who had greeted her only moments earlier. Crea didn't know whether Maia had been happy or scared to see her again. Perhaps it was a little of both.

"Why do you want to find the Defenders?" Maia asked.

"How do you know I'm looking for them?" Crea replied.

"I heard you talking with some of the villagers."

"I see."

"So, why do you want to find Seth and the others?"

For some strange reason, Crea did not want to answer Maia's question. She found it odd that she wanted to spare Maia the thought of her fighting with people she called heroes. Maybe it was her taking pity on the poor girl. Or maybe it was some other reason or another. Crea didn't know, and her not knowing why she just couldn't tell Maia the truth vexed her terribly.

Then, to Crea's surprise, Maia said sadly, "You're going to fight them, aren't you?"

Crea said nothing for a moment, but then said softly, "Yes…"

"But why? Why would you want to fight them?"

"Because they tried to kill me, Maia, and for that I will kill them."

"No! You can't do that!"

"What's stopping me, kid? They are my enemies, and as enemies they must die."

"But why do you have to be enemies? Why can't you just be friends?"

Crea paused for a moment, and then said resolutely, "I have no friends, Maia. Not even you."

At her last word, blue lights surrounded Crea and she vanished. But as she teleported away, Crea heard Maia shout, "Wait! Come back!"

It was too late, though. Crea had already gone.

-----

Crea's mind flashed back to the present. She cursed herself for letting a memory like that distract her. But she stood by what she had said. Nothing was going to stop her from killing the Di-Gata Defenders.

Crea continued through the quarry, keeping her ghostly eyes open for any sign of movement.

-----

In the middle of the quarry, Rion sat atop a large stone, his face buried in his knees. Only a day ago, he had lost a very dear friend and mentor. He could scarcely believe it had happened, didn't want to believe it, but it had happened. Tzur, his mentor and only real family, had died saving the lives of him and the other Defenders. The memory of that terrible moment brought tears to his eyes. Rion reached into his pouch and pulled out the guardian stone containing Arvengus, his new guardian. The last thing Tzur had done for Rion before his death was giving him the guardian. It was the only thing Rion had left to remember his mentor by.

"Tzur…" Rion sighed. "Why did it have to be this way? Why did you have to die?"

Rion clasped his hand around the guardian stone as he buried his head in his knees again. A moment passed before Kara walked out from behind a set of rocks and stared at Rion. Kara slowly walked up to the sobbing boy with a look of concern on her face.

"Rion?" said Kara, but Rion did not notice her. "Are you alright?"

"Kara?" Rion said through his sobs. "Why are you here? I thought–"

"I saw you walk off, and wanted to see if you were alright."

Rion said nothing as he turned away from Kara, attempting to avoid her gaze.

"Rion, the others told about Tzur." Rion lifted his head, not having expected Kara to say what she had just said. Kara continued, "I know it's hard to lose someone who cared for you like a parent. But Tzur did what he did so that you could live on, Rion. He made his sacrifice for you and for the Realm, and for that… uh…" Kara was now at a loss for words, thinking she had just made a big mistake.

"Thanks, Kara," Rion replied, standing up and looking at her. Kara smiled, almost embarrassed.

"Isn't this a touching moment?" said a girl's voice. Kara choked with fear at these words – she knew who had said them.

"No…"

Laughter came from somewhere nearby. Alerted, Rion and Kara quickly whipped around, looking for the source of the sound. A moment later, Crea walked into view.

"Crea," said Kara, trying her best to hide her fear.

"Kara, it's so good to see you again. Been busy?" Kara said nothing, but slowly reached for her spell stones. "I take it you're not pleased to see me. I don't blame you."

"What is it you want?" said Rion, also having reached for his spell stones.

"Umm, excuse me," Crea said snidely, "but Kara and I are having a chat, so if you'd just let us have our little girl talk–"

"What is it you want?" Rion interrupted, each word coming slowly and harshly.

"Fine, if you want to know so badly, I've come here to settle a little score with Kara and the other Defenders." A second later, Crea said, "Oh, not including you, of course. Rion, is it? You were not among the ones who tried to kill me. You're not someone who needs to die here, so I'm going to give you the chance to run for your life. I'd suggest you take it now."

"Not gonna happen." Rion raised his hand toward Crea, his spell stones glowing.

"Rion, no!" Kara exclaimed. "Don't try to fight her! Just run, get out of here!"

"You'd be smart to listen to her, Rion," said Crea.

"I'm not going to leave you, Kara. You're my friend, and I don't abandon friends."

Kara stared at Rion, touched by his gesture. A second later, though, her train of thought was broken by Crea, who was laughing at Rion's words.

"A friend?" Crea exclaimed. "You're going to just throw away your life needlessly because she's your FRIEND?!"

"I lost someone dear to me only a day ago. I'm not going to lose anyone else."

"Rion…" said Kara.

"Tch– damn idiot." Crea raised a hand, the back of it facing Kara and Rion, and it became surrounded by blue energy that flickered like flames. She then said, "Fine. Have it your way, then."

Crea turned her hand to the Defenders and a blast of energy surged forward at them. Kara and Rion cast their stones at the same instant. _Fortify Front! Argent Warrior!_

-----

Elsewhere in the quarry, the other Defenders were in the process of various tasks. Erik was tuning his tech gauntlet with a set of his father's tools, while Adam and Melosa were organizing various supplies for the coming days. Seth was seated on a small rock, dwelling over the loss of his Nova Stone to Malco and Flinch. Not only was it one of his most prized possessions, it also held the spirit of Nazmul. Seth shuddered at the thought that Malco and Flinch might eventually be able to release Nazmul from the stone, and the kind of damage that could be caused if he were released.

The silence was broken by Melosa, who said, "Hey, Seth, do you know where Kara went?"

"Kara?" Seth said unconsciously. A second later, he realized what had been asked and said, "Oh, she went to check up on Rion. They should be back in a bit."

"Okay, I just wanted to–" Melosa stopped with a gasp of horror, dropping the bag in her hands.

"Mel?" asked Adam. "Something the matter?"

"Mel, what is it?" added Seth.

"There's someone else here, in the area. This power, it's– Oh no! Rion! Kara!"

Melosa immediately sprinted off, a look of absolute terror in her eyes.

"Mel, wait! Come back!" Seth shouted, quickly getting to his feet and running after her. Adam quickly followed. Erik, who just noticed the others running, fumbled with the tools in his hands as he got to his feet.

"Hey, guys! Wait up!"

Erik managed to sort himself then quickly took off after the others.

-----

Rion's guardian Arvengus, a great lion with several stone spikes across its hide, crashed to the ground after several energy blasts struck it. The lion disappeared as another blast of energy struck Rion. He yelped as he flew back a couple of meters and crashed to the ground.

"Rion!" Kara screamed.

Crea took advantage of this moment. She quickly fired several more blasts at Kara's shield. The shield broke from the heavy attack, but Kara dodged the last shot. She countered with a spell. _Typhoon of Power!_ A lightning bolt shot down from the sky, but it didn't hit Crea. Instead, Kara hit herself with the spell, to which she shuddered in pain. Kara channeled the energy through her body and raised her hands at Crea. The lightning shot forth at her, its power enhanced. Crea quickly raised her hands to the blast, creating an energy wall in front of her. The wall blocked the attack, but shattered from the pressure. The lightning passed, to which Crea lowered her hands. She was completely unscathed, while Kara stood exhausted, thin plumes of smoke rising from her body.

"Neat trick," said Crea.

As she finished, Crea raised her hands so her fingertips touched, and electricity began to crackle in her hands. Kara stood her ground, hoping she would still be able to channel the attack without it frying her. Crea swung her right hand forward and a bolt of lightning shot from her fingertips at Kara. But as it neared her, the bolt passed right by the side of her head; instead of striking Kara, the lightning bolt struck a rock behind her. The rock exploded and sent rock fragments showering over Kara. The Defender shrieked as she covered her head from the rocks that pelted her.

Crea sprinted forward, boosted by a jet of energy behind her. Kara quickly looked up to see Crea rushing at her and attempted to counterattack, but it was too late. Crea rushed past Kara, grabbing her arm in the process, and used her momentum to toss Kara at Rion, who was trying to get up. Kara slammed into Rion and the two landed in a dizzy heap.

A few seconds passed before Kara attempted to stand up again. As she did, Crea ran up to her, grabbed her by the collar, and then pinned her against a rock. Kara struggled to escape, but it was no use.

"You're making this way too easy for me," Crea taunted. "You humans can be so predictable."

Behind Crea, Rion attempted to push himself up, but Crea noticed and thrust a kick at his side, sending him sprawling across the ground.

"If you'll just wait your turn, I'll get to you in a second. Now where was I? Oh yeah…"

Crea stretched out an arm, showing a massive amount of energy building up in her hand. Just before Crea struck, Erik's voice shouted a spell. _Singeing Spar!_ A thin blade of fire flew out and struck Crea in the shoulder. Crea shrieked from the pain and dropped Kara, clutching her now-blackened shoulder. Kara didn't waste time and jumped away from Crea. As she landed, Kara ran over to her brother and the other Defenders, who stood several meters away from Crea.

"Thanks, Erik."

"Don't thank me just yet," Erik replied, still aiming his gauntlet at Crea. Seth, Adam and Melosa also had their stones at the ready.

Crea turned around to face them, clearly angered. Her shoulder was now surrounded by small green lights, which were repairing the damage he had done.

As her body repaired itself, Crea said, "Oh good, the whole gang's here. Just how I wanted it."

"What are you doing here, Crea?" Seth demanded. Crea could tell he was nervous, though.

"Are you really that dense, Seth?" Crea said mockingly. "I thought it'd be pretty obvious what I'd want to do to someone after they tried to kill me."

"So that's it? Petty revenge?" said Melosa.

"Something along those lines…"

Seth and Crea stared unwaveringly at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. On the side, Rion groaned as he slowly pushed himself up.

Meanwhile, Adam whispered to Seth, "You got a plan?"

"Working on it," Seth whispered back, keeping one eye on Crea.

"Not very encouraging."

"Well then, enough chitchat," Crea interrupted. "Let's get to it, shall we?"

Crea raised a hand to attack, but at the same instant, Rion ran at her and cast his stones.

"Rion, wait!" shouted Seth.

_Silver Orb!_ Several small shining spheres flew at Crea, but she quickly turned her hand and fired a salvo of pulses at the spell. The attacks collided and canceled each other out.

"Annoying little bastard, aren't you?" Crea hissed.

Crea then swung her other hand in Rion's direction and a large blast shot out. The blast struck Rion, who screamed as he flew back, slamming into a rock. A second later, he fell to the ground, completely limp.

"RION!" shouted Seth.

Almost instantaneously, Crea turned her head to the other Defenders and thrust a kick into the ground at an angle. Spires of rock shot up in a line toward the Defenders, threatening to tear them apart.

"Look out!" Erik hollered.

The Defenders dove away from the spire line, which continued to move in a straight line, and ran behind several of the large rocks that littered the quarry.

Crea turned to where the Defenders had just been and looked around at the large rocks. She thought to go in after them, but suspected that she would be walking into an ambush doing so. Carelessness had cost her dearly in her last battle with the Defenders, so she wasn't taking any chances if she could help it. Not moving from her position, Crea raised her hands together and energy charged up in her palms. She fired a large blast at the nearest rock in front of her, which blew it to pieces.

Within the rock formation, Seth saw the explosion. Seconds later, several more rocks exploded into fragments. They couldn't stay there – Crea would blast them out eventually. Seth's mind raced, trying to think of something he could do. Running wasn't an option; Crea could teleport and run faster than they could. Fighting her also would be a bad idea; Crea was far more powerful than in their last battle. But as Seth saw it, fighting was really the only option he and the others had. They still had a slight chance.

Seth turned to Kara, who was nearest to him, and shouted "Kara, help Rion! We'll cover you!"

"Got it!" Kara replied as she pulled her guardian stone from her pouch.

_V-Moth, take flight!_ The insect guardian appeared above the Defenders and instantly set to flying at Crea. At the same time, Kara moved out and rushed toward Rion, her power boots making her run with great speed. V-Moth hovered high above Crea as she turned toward the guardian.

V-Moth chattered its mandibles as it raised its stinger toward Crea and a series of sonic waves shot at Crea. Crea quickly positioned her arms in a cross position, and all around her body a reflective glow appeared, as though she had a shimmering second skin. As the sonic waves struck her, they caused shield that formed around Crea's body to flicker. The attack did little damage to Crea, the shield only weakening the attack rather than blocking it, but she was pushed back a short distance.

"Annoying bug!" Crea growled after a moment.

She raised her arms at V-Moth and fired several pulses at the guardian, but the insect managed to dodge them, albeit barely. Nearby, Kara rushed over to Rion and knelt beside him as he groaned.

"Hang in there, Rion…" said Kara.

She grabbed onto Rion by the arm and slowly began to drag him away from Crea. As she did, Rion yelled in pain as Kara moved him. Crea turned around and noticed Kara dragging him away. The revelation obviously did not suit Crea well.

"I'm sorry," Crea said viciously, "but I wasn't finished with him!"

Crea shot a hasty bolt at Kara, who screamed as she was hit and flung to the ground. Kara was not badly hurt, but pain ran through her very sharply. Kara quickly tried to push herself and looked toward Crea, who had charged a blast in her hand and was about to fire it. Kara screamed, but just as Crea fired, V-Moth flew in and collided head-on with Crea, causing the shot to miss by mere inches. Crea stumbled as her shield flickered, but quickly regained her footing and turned toward V-Moth as it pulled up toward the sky. Crea fired several more blasts at V-Moth, but they missed.

Eventually, Crea stopped shooting, but only for a moment, as her arms began to shimmer in a pattern of light. A large volley of curving pulses shot from her arms at V-Moth, who moved to dodge the attack. But it was no use; the attack homed in on the guardian and struck it several times. V-Moth vanished, with its guardian stone falling to the ground near Erik, who quickly snatched it up as he ran toward Rion and his sister.

"Erik, help me!" said Kara in a distressed tone.

Erik grabbed Rion by the arms and began to pull him back behind several large rocks, despite Rion's screams of pain. At that moment, Crea shot another volley of blasts at Erik and Kara, but Melosa's voice sounded from the sides. _Breath of the Zephyr!_ A wall of ice emerged before Erik, Kara and Rion, which blocked Crea's attack, though the ice wall took heavy damage. Not wasting any time, Erik and Kara pulled Rion behind a set of large rocks, where Crea could not see them.

Angered by Melosa's interference, Crea turned around to see the silver-haired girl brandishing a set of spell stones. Crea smirked for a moment before saying, "You know, Mel, it was VERY uncalled for when you blasted me that last time. It's time I returned the favor."

Crea raised a hand forward and shot a blast at Melosa's head. Melosa quickly dodged the attack, as well as several more shots.

"Dammit… JUST DIE ALREADY!" Crea fired a single barrage of large blasts at Melosa, who quickly cast several shield stones. _Barricade Array!_ A set of disc shields appeared before her, but the entire array was destroyed by Crea's heavy barrage.

"Sorry, but I'm just going to have to disappoint you again, Crea," said Melosa. "By the way, have you met my guardian, Draykor?"

A screech behind Crea alerted her to the presence of Melosa's ice drake guardian. Crea raised her arm just as Draykor lunged forward with its talons. The strike cut into Crea's arm, despite her shields. Draykor quickly flew back and angled its tail at her. From its tail, a flow of ice shot forth, striking Crea's injured arm and freezing it completely solid.

"Draykor really hates it when people shoot energy blasts at me," Melosa taunted.

"I'm not impressed," Crea said after a moment.

In what seemed like an instant, the ice around Crea's arm shattered as she swung it at Draykor, hand-first. From her hand, a crescent-shaped beam shot forth as Crea moved her hand in a slashing movement at Draykor. The beam seemed to slice the ice drake in half. Draykor disappeared as its energies returned to Melosa's amulet. And just as quickly as she struck, Crea's reassumed a defensive stance. Green lights repaired the damage to her arm.

At first, Melosa was stunned by what she had seen, but quickly recovered from the shock and cast a spell at Crea. _Frigid Tempest!_ A strong snowy wind flew at Crea, threatening to freeze her solid. Crea quickly spread her hands to her sides and the snowy wind seemed to whirl around her. But it did not freeze her, much to Melosa's utter confusion. In fact, it seemed as though it were obeying Crea's commands.

"Wha– what the?" Melosa stuttered.

Crea smirked and swung her hands forward at Melosa. The wind shot back at its caster, who shrieked as the wind whirled around her. In an instant, the wind froze Melosa solid in ice. All that could be heard from Melosa were her muffled cries for help.

"Impaled upon your own sword," Crea said as she lowered her arms and began striding towards the frozen Melosa. As she reached her, Crea said with a slight chuckle, "This is really too much."

"MEL!" yelled Adam's voice from the sides.

Crea quickly turned to see Adam rushing toward her as he cast a spell. _Black Bola!_ A set of black spheres linked by an energy chain flew at her. Crea quickly swung a pair of fingers at it, creating a thread of golden light from her fingertips in mid-swing. The thread sliced the bola down the middle, sending the black spheres flying in various directions. The thread vanished as Crea assumed a stance.

"Oh good," said Crea. "You'll get to watch as I kill your boyfriend."

At that moment, Crea was cut off as Seth cast a spell. _Doom Dart!_ A dart made of dark energy flew at Crea's head. Crea dodged at the last second and the dart only nicked her cheek. The wound quickly resealed. Crea quickly retaliated, shooting several blasts at both Seth and Adam. Seth ducked behind a large rock, while Adam made several acrobatic maneuvers to dodge the attacks directed at him. As Adam finished, he cast his guardian stone. _Firefox, Ignite!_ Adam's guardian, a crimson red fox with the Infinis Sigil on its two large legs, appeared. It quickly danced around Crea's shots as it raised its tail, and a stream of fire shot forth from the tip. Crea's conforming shield blocked the attack, taking minor damage.

Meanwhile, behind a large rock, Seth turned as Erik rushed up beside him.

"How's Rion?" asked Seth.

"Not too good, Seth. He's in bad shape, but he insists on fighting. Kara's looking after him right now."

"Good, because we have another problem. Mel's been–"

"I saw it. Talk about a bad time for a miscast."

"She didn't, and that's part of the problem. You've gotta thaw her out."

"I'm on it. Cover me."

Erik moved toward Melosa, using several rocks as cover. Eventually, he reached Melosa's frozen form and began pushing it slowly behind a rock.

"Wow, Mel, this certainly isn't something that happens to you everyday now, is it?" Erik said in a slightly joking tone.

From the ice, Melosa's voice muffled, "Not… funny… Erik!"

"Just hang on, Mel. I'll have you out in no time." Erik pulled out a small blowtorch from his belt and began slowly melting the ice around Melosa.

Meanwhile, Crea was now dodging several shots being sent by Firefox rather than letting her shield take the hits. She continued to shoot back, but Firefox and Adam were just as adept at dodging her attacks. From behind Crea, Seth cast another spell. _Bedlam!_ A small number of dark spirits flew at Crea, spiraling around her and striking her shield, but they dealt little damage. At the same time, Adam pulled out a booster stone and cast it at Firefox. _Heart of Yin!_ Firefox's body instantly turned to searing flames and it streaked at Crea, surrounding her in a crimson inferno. Crea was burned by the flames, but the wounds healed accordingly.

After a moment, Crea's body began to glow with a red pattern. As it did, she said, "Didn't you ever learn what happens when you play with fire?"

Crea's body became surrounded by yellow and blue flames, which instantly burned away Seth's spell. The immolation struck Firefox, incinerating it despite its own fiery body. The guardian vanished and its stone returned to Adam, who looked anxiously at Crea. Crea then waved her arms in a motion and the flames around her shot out in various directions. Adam and Seth barely managed to dodge the attack, both rushing to a nearby set of rocks for cover. As they ran, Crea added several energy blasts to her fiery attack, bombarding the whole area before her. Several more rocks either exploded or melted from her attack.

Behind the remaining rocks, Seth looked toward Adam, who had taken cover next to him, and said, "Adam, follow my lead! We'll take her up close!"

"Umm… are you sure about that, Seth? I mean–"

"Would you rather we stayed here and let her blast us out?"

Adam paused for a moment, and then said, "Alright, if this'll kill us faster then lead on."

Seth frowned at this quip. A second later, he and Adam quickly cast their spells. _Twisting Chaos! Assassin!_ A large amount of dark energy entered Seth's body, causing four black tendrils to extend from his back. His eyes began to glow golden. Opposite him, Adam was surrounded by a bluish-green aura, which made him seem almost transparent. Electricity began to spark around both of them.

A short distance from the rocks, Crea walked over while readying an energy blast. Just then, a bluish streak sprung out from behind one of the rocks and ran at lightning speed towards her. Crea reflexively fired a blast at the blue streak, but it dodged the attack. From within the blue streak, Adam thrust a lightning-fast fist at Crea, striking her as he passed. The force of the blow knocked Crea into the air for a moment, but she righted herself in midair and landed on her feet.

Adam stopped behind Crea and faced her. Crea quickly turned to look at the rogue, and then turned back where he had come from to see Seth ready in a combat stance.

"Heh, brave of you," Crea said smugly.

Crea thrust her arms out to her sides and two blades of energy formed around her hands and wrists. The sight of these swords unnerved Seth and Adam.

"That's a new one," Seth muttered.

A second later, Adam said sarcastically, "Nice idea, Seth."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know she could do that?"

"Come on, you thought fighting her up close would work? Especially after seeing what she can do with her bare hands?"

"So why'd you follow my lead on this? We could just go back to being pelted by energy blasts; that's an option too!"

Interrupting the two, Crea said mockingly, "Excuse me, but I'd like to be able to kill the two of you sometime today. So, if you don't mind…"

Both Adam and Seth's minds returned to the fight, and they reassumed their stances toward Crea. Seth made the first move, lunging at Crea with a fist and a pair of the dark tendrils extending from his back, attempting to strike her in the chest. Crea parried the strike with one of her blades, just as Adam ran in towards her to strike her from behind. Crea pushed Seth back hard, and then quickly jumped in a backwards flip as Adam threw a punch at her back, his strike missing by a mere inch. As Crea flipped, she thrust a kick at Adam, springing off his back and causing him to fall forward and almost crash into Seth. Seth stepped to the side, avoiding Adam, and then sent a flurry of lunges with his dark tendrils at Crea. Crea parried each strike, but then one blow hit her in the shoulder, piercing through her weakened shield.

As small amounts of blue particles leaked from the wound, Crea said "Not bad, Seth. You've gotten better."

Crea quickly slashed at the black tendril in her shoulder, slicing it in two. She then followed up with a lunge at Seth's chest. Reacting just in time, Seth brought the remaining three tendrils in front of him, barely blocking the strike. The force of the blow sent him flying back, however, and he crashed to the ground in a heap. Crea reassumed her stance, the small wound in her shoulder healing with green lights.

She then turned as Adam rushed toward her, his fists flying in a lightning-fast flurry. Crea moved quickly, dodging and parrying his blows with significant difficulty. Even though she was evading and blocking Adam's strikes with considerable skill, his speed made it almost impossible to move in time. Adam landed a couple of blows on Crea, but her shield weakened them considerably. Crea then countered by swinging her blade at Adam's feet, causing the ground to rip up beneath him. Adam stumbled back for a moment, but then regained his footing and jumped over the shockwave. Adam then rushed forward at Crea, thrusting a left hook hard at her head.

At that very moment, the blade around Crea's right arm vanished, and her arm began to glow in a white energy pattern. Crea sidestepped to her right, causing the blow to miss; she then turned about and grabbed Adam's arm. Then, in a swift movement, she pulled back on Adam's arm and thrust a kick hard into the side of his ribs. Adam screamed in pain as Crea held him, the energies of his spell dissipating. She continued to push harder and harder with her leg into Adam's side, stretching his arm until it felt as though she were going to rip it off.

"Tell me something," said Crea. "Why bother fighting with Seth and the others? You aren't a Di-Gata Defender, last time I checked."

Amidst his cries of pain, Adam said, "I have… my reasons…"

Crea looked contemptuously at Adam, then raised her blade and said scornfully, "Fine then. You'll die like the rest of– AHH!"

Seth slammed into Crea's side at this moment, making her release her grip on Adam's arm. Crea flew a short distance, crashing into a large rock and embedding herself in it. She did not look as though the impact had harmed her, though.

As Seth stood ready to fight Crea, the black tendrils in his back outstretched, he quickly looked toward Adam and said, "You're welcome."

"Th– thanks," Adam replied as he nursed his arm. "Just– just gimme a minute. Ow…"

Seth almost revealed an arrogant smile, but turned to face Crea. She slammed her elbows into the rock behind her, breaking it apart as she pushed forward. She then ran at Seth, forming a new blade around her right arm, and took several swings at him. Seth managed to parry each strike then countered with a whirling attack, but Crea blocked the attack effortlessly. The two exchanged blows for a moment, then Seth swung his arm in a motion and the tendrils on his back wrapped themselves around Crea's arms and torso. Crea struggled against Seth to break free, but the tendrils were surprisingly strong.

As Seth struggled to hold Crea back, she chuckled and said smugly, "Clever."

Crea jumped up and thrust a hard kick with both legs into Seth's chest. The blow sent him flying, his grip on her lost. Seth crashed to the ground, groaning in pain, while Crea landed neatly several meters away from him. Seth slowly pushed himself up, his eyes fixed on Crea as the blades around her arms vanished. She then lifted a hand in a fist and a beam shot out of her wrist like a chain. Seth moved to the side, but the beam struck one of the black tendrils and seemed to latch onto it. Crea pulled back her arm, which nearly flung Seth off his feet as he jerked forward, but he managed to stay standing. Quickly moving, Seth thrust his hands forward and the tendrils separated from his back and flew at Crea. With a jerk of her wrist, the energy chain connected to Crea's arm broke off. Her arms then began to glow in a green pattern. Crea thrust an open palm at the ground, and the wind kicked up around her in a cyclone. Seth's spell struck the cyclone and fizzled out.

On the side, Adam watched as Seth's spell hit Crea uselessly. "Aw crap… why did I ever follow his lead on this?" he said to himself. A sharp pain in his arm made him clutch his shoulder with a grunt.

"Adam!" shouted Kara's voice. Adam turned to see Kara slide over beside him and look at his arm. "Are you alright?" she said, concerned.

"It's nothing serious– AGH!" Kara had tried to inspect Adam's arm at that moment, but withdrew her hand the instant she had touched it.

"Sorry, sorry!"

"I'll be fine, Kara. I just need a minute or so."

Kara turned back to the battle that was raging between Seth and Crea, clearly worried.

Meanwhile, Erik continued to melt the ice surrounding Melosa with his blowtorch. The ice around her head and torso began to crack. Erik shut off the torch and slipped his fingers in between a large crack he had made in the ice and began to pry it apart. A moment later, the ice ripped open. Melosa coughed heavily as she gasped for warm air.

"You alright, Mel?"

Melosa coughed as she said, "I– I'm fine."

"Just give me a sec and I'll get the rest of you out," Erik said as he reactivated the torch and directed its flames at Melosa's still-frozen legs.

At that moment, Melosa looked over Erik's shoulder to see Seth desperately trying to dodge and parry Crea's fists. Crea swung a low kick at Seth's ankles, which he leapt over. But as Seth landed, Crea had swung about in a spin and the same kick that had first gone at his feet struck him in the chest. Seth tumbled back across the ground, making a loud thud as he landed.

"Seth!" Melosa screamed.

Erik shut off the torch as he turned around to see Crea advance on Seth. He quickly turned to Melosa and tossed her the torch as he said, "Can you get yourself out?" Erik then ran off to help Seth.

"What? Hey, wait! Erik!" Erik did not pay attention to Melosa, much to her chagrin. Left with nothing else she could do, Melosa began to start defrosting herself with the torch.

Erik raised his gauntlet and cast a set of shield stones. _Fortify Fortress!_ A solid blue shield of Ogama Sigil energy formed around Erik, completely covering him.

"Hey Crea, over here!" shouted Erik.

Crea turned to face Erik, her hands glowing with energy. At the same moment, Seth took the opportunity to run to cover.

Noticing Seth as he retreated, Crea said snidely, "I really should finish him off. Oh well, I might as well kill you first, Erik."

Erik quickly fired his guardian stone. _Robotus, Activate!_ Erik's guardian came forth, constructed in a form that had two large multi-rocket launchers as its arms, as well as two more missile launchers on its shoulders.

Robotus turned toward Crea and fired off a barrage of miniature missiles at her in a wide arc. The missiles soon turned towards her, homing in on her energy signature. Crea quickly pushed off the ground, levitating shortly above it, and a boost of energy thrust her backwards to dodge the first of the missiles. One set of missiles came straight at her, but Crea dodged them at the last second and they exploded as they struck a nearby rock. She continued to swerve through them while moving backwards, with some of the missiles colliding with nearby rocks and exploding. As it became more difficult to dodge, Crea raised her arms together, palms flat and facing forward, and began firing rapid bursts of energy at the missiles, destroying them. Robotus continued to fire endlessly at Crea.

After a series of missile waves failed to damage Crea, Robotus fired one combined barrage at her. At this moment, Crea closed her hands in fists and a large amount of energy charged up in her arms. She then released a powerful beam of energy at the missiles, destroying them all simultaneously. The beam then proceeded toward Robotus, piercing through the guardian's chest plate. Robotus sparked for a moment as it went haywire and then exploded. Robotus' guardian stone reappeared in Erik's hand as he growled angrily at Crea.

"Piece of crap," Crea taunted as she touched down. "He needs an upgrade."

Infuriated, Erik cast another spell. _Constructor!_ A series of metal plates wrapped around Erik's left hand and wrist area and formed a multi-barreled blaster weapon. The barrels were arranged like a Gatling gun, which spun as Erik started up the weapon. Erik roared death as the blaster fired a volley of energy shots at her. The shots hit Crea's shield quite strongly, causing considerable damage to her.

Surprised, Crea staggered back from the blasts. She quickly positioned her arms in a defensive stance and her shield began to brighten as it strengthened. Erik's shots now were doing little damage, and green lights were quickly sealing up the spots on Crea where she had blue particles leaking. Angered, Crea retaliated with a rapid series of energy bursts at Erik. As the small shots struck his powerful shield, Erik began to strafe sideways, not ceasing his attack. The two began to move in a circle, exchanging shots, but neither one seemed to gain an advantage. Crea was not using particularly strong attacks, and Erik's blaster was dealing little damage to Crea due to her shield.

After a moment, Crea suddenly stopped firing and a boost of energy sent her sprinting forwards at Erik with incredible speed. From the sides, Kara screamed, "ERIK! LOOK OUT!"

Kara ran out to help her brother and cast a spell quickly. _Bolt of Altas!_ Again, she channeled the spell through her body, to which she almost went to tears from pain. A powerful energy bolt flew at Crea from Kara's body. Crea saw the attack moving towards her, but she was moving too quickly to stop, and her shield would not protect her from it. Instead, Crea began charging up a blast in her left hand.

Just before the bolt struck her, Crea leapt up in a corkscrew roll above the bolt and it passed inches away from her back, scorching her red cape. As she came about in her roll, Crea shot her energy blast at Kara. The blast landed in front of the Defender and exploded, sending Kara flying back with a scream. Crea finished her roll and landed, and then continued to rush at Erik, who was still firing at her.

Erik continued firing his barrage at Crea, but it was no use; she simply plowed through the field of blaster fire, ignoring the damage she was taking. Crea soon reached him and thrust a fist straight at his shield, her arms now glowing to indicate her superhuman strength. Her fist was also crackling with a large amount of energy. The blow broke through Erik's shield instantly, much to his horror. Then in a quick movement Crea grabbed Erik's blaster and pulled, throwing him over her shoulder to the ground. Erik lost his grip on the blaster in the process of the throw.

Crea smirked as she crushed the blaster's barrels in her hand with ease. The weapon dematerialized in her hand as she absorbed its energies. Crea then grabbed Erik by the collar and jumped up into the air, carrying Erik with her. As the two reached the peak of Crea's jump, Crea quickly positioned herself above Erik and kicked him hard towards the ground, whilst kicking off from him. Where Erik impacted, there was a large cloud of dust as Crea landed several meters away. The dust soon cleared, revealing a badly injured Erik, whose body quaked in pain from the impact.

Crea took a moment to look over her shoulder at her charred cape. Finding it to be a hindrance, Crea tore off the scarlet cloak and tossed it aside. As the cape drifted, it dispersed into small lights and disappeared before even touching the ground. Crea then grinned as she raised a hand at Erik, her index and middle fingers pointed at him, and energy began to charge into her fingertips. Erik saw Crea prepare to attack and quickly raised his gauntlet. _Flash Blast!_ An energy blast shot forth and struck Crea, blinding her briefly. Erik took the chance to run behind cover with Seth. Recovering, Crea shot her attack, a thin beam of energy, at Erik, but missed. The shot pierced several rocks in a line, causing them to crumble.

As Erik crouched beside him, Seth immediately said, "Erik, you alright?"

Amidst grunts of pain Erik said, "I'll live, I think. But this is crazy!"

"I know, I know."

"So then, why are we still here? We should get outta here while we still can."

"We'd never make it back to the Stormers."

"So we're just supposed to keep fighting her?!"

"What other choice to we have?"

"Uh, guys?" came Adam's voice. "A little help here would be nice!"

Seth and Erik looked out from their cover to see Crea shoot several more blasts at Adam, who was having trouble dodging.

"Stay here," Seth said to Erik. "I'll help Adam."

Seth went out from behind the rock, reached for his guardian stone and cast it. _Omnikragg, take form!_ The ground shook as the massive form of Omnikragg appeared before Seth. The towering giant of stone roared a battle cry as he stormed toward Crea, who turned to face the guardian. Adam ran for cover.

"Nice guardian," Crea said with a hint of sarcasm. "Was Kragus starting to get dust all over him?"

"How dare you insult my predecessor, you witch!" Omnikragg bellowed as he swung a fist at Crea. She easily dodged the blow, landing a few meters away from the guardian.

"All Kragus ever managed to do was piss me off. You'll be the same!"

Crea leapt forward at Omnikragg and threw a glowing fist at the giant. Omnikragg moved his arm quickly and blocked the strike, much to Crea's surprise. He then thrust a fast punch at Crea, who barely had time to block it with her arms. Crea flew back and crashed into a boulder, but remained standing as she fell to the ground. Omnikragg then reached over to a nearby pair of rocks, picked them up with one hand each, and tossed them at Crea. Crea smashed the first one with her fists effortlessly.

But then Crea did something unexpected: she held out her hand as if to simply stop the second rock, palm flat. The rock connected with her hand, and with a mighty shove Crea flung the rock back towards Omnikragg, who quickly threw out a fist and smashed the rock to pieces. As the dust cleared before Omnikragg, he looked on in surprise as Crea fired a blistering barrage of energy bursts at him. _Barricade Array!_ A set of small disc shields from Seth formed around Omnikragg, deflecting the shots. As the shields spiraled around Omnikragg, the giant raised his hands forward in a combat stance.

"Come and taste retribution, whelp!" the giant roared.

Crea looked at Omnikragg for a moment, and then laughed at him, amusedly. Her laughter seemed to have a hint of hilarity in her reaction.

Amidst her laughs, Crea said, "Oh ho, now that's just funny. 'Come and taste retribution', that's a good one!"

At that moment, Crea stopped laughing and thrust her hands forward at Omnikragg. A blistering barrage of energy blasts flew at Omnikragg, striking him as well as Seth's shields, shattering the latter. A large cloud of smoke erupted around Omnikragg, hiding him from view. Crea soon stopped her assault and lowered her hands.

She then said sarcastically, "Hilarious."

The smoke cleared around Omnikragg, revealing that he had only taken minor damage from the attack. He looked mad as a hornet, however, as he roared and rushed in a headlong charge at Crea. As he neared Crea, Omnikragg thrust forward a giant stone fist at her, which Crea dodged by sidestepping. Omnikragg followed up with another fist, but instead of dodging it Crea thrust her hand at the giant's wrist, knocking the blow aside. The giant took several more swings at Crea, all which she dodged or deflected with movements. Crea attempted to counter with several punches and kicks, but Omnikragg was stronger than she was in terms of pure might. He either blocked the strikes or took the punishment easily.

After a moment of exchanging blows, Omnikragg then thrust an open hand out at Crea. The blow connected, leaving Crea pinned up against a large rock by the guardian's massive hand. Despite her impressive strength, Crea couldn't move her arms to push away the giant's fist. As she tried to struggle free, Omnikragg's hand began to glow a crimson aura. Sensing the energy buildup in Omnikragg's hand, Crea began focusing her energy to defend herself.

The energy in Omnikragg surged forward at Crea as he slightly loosened his grip, blasting her and the rock behind her. The rock was blown to smithereens, while Crea flew back and crashed to the ground. As she skidded across the ground, Crea quickly moved and in an acrobatic movement she pushed up off the ground, landing on her feet after a back-flip.

At various locations on her body, blue particles leaked from Crea's wounds. Green lights were slowly arriving to seal the wounds; they weren't healing the wounds properly. Crea had clearly been heavily damaged, but still had plenty of fight left in her. Her long blue hair was disheveled about her shoulders and back, yet still it glistened.

Looking upon Crea from behind his guardian, Seth said, "Wow, she can move."

Crea's eyes darted to her right and spotted a large boulder next to her. She quickly touched a shimmering hand to the boulder, which quickly caused its energies to siphon into Crea's body. Within seconds, Crea absorbed what was available in the stone, which crumbled to dust. It wasn't a full recharge; not even close, but it would do for the moment. Her regeneration was at least working properly now.

Crea slowly stood up as her wounds healed. She then assumed a stance as an energy blade formed around her right arm. She stared at Omnikragg for a moment, who stared back waiting for her to strike. Crea then roared for the guardian's death as a thrust of energy sent her rushing at him. As she neared him, Omnikragg swung a glowing fist at Crea, but suddenly she vanished in a flash of blue light.

"What the?" uttered Omnikragg, clearly stunned. He looked all around him, but Crea was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, a flash of blue light appeared behind Omnikragg as Crea rematerialized. Seeing her, Seth shouted, "OMNI, BEHIND YOU!"

Omnikragg turned just in time to see Crea strike. "DIE!!!"

Crea leapt up and swung her blade in an upward arc, slicing Omnikragg in the chest. She then swung her blade downward in a slash to the guardian's back. Omnikragg vanished in a flash of red light, with his guardian stone reappearing in Seth's hand. Crea turned toward Seth, who still had several shields floating around him, yet growled through clenched teeth.

Crea then said, "You traded up, Seth. He was a lot more fun than Kragus."

"Just so you're aware, that WAS Kragus you just fought."

"Huh?"

"Kragus merged with another guardian, Omniaxor, who belonged to my father. I'd never have traded away Kragus for anything. He was my friend, and he still is!"

"Your friend? How can one really be a friend with something that no longer exists? It's not like you'll ever be able to play or do whatever it is you do with him ever again. He's gone, after all; now just a fragment of that big brute whose stone now lies in your hand."

"You just don't get it, do you Crea? The idea behind friendship. Kragus and I were pals, the best of friends since I was a little kid, and nothing would change that. Not even me losing the Kragus I knew for years. He still lives on in Omnikragg, and I'm glad to fight alongside him, as well as my other friends."

"Friendship… Ha, what an asinine notion, though it's fitting for someone as weak as you."

Angered by Crea's retort, Seth cast a spell at her. _Nega Mass!_ A small dense ball of magical energy flew at Crea, who merely smirked. The blade around her arm vanished as the ball flew at her. Just before it struck her, Crea lashed out a glowing hand and caught the energy ball in it. Despite the spell's power, it caused no damage to Crea.

"What?" Seth said in astonishment.

As the energy ball clashed with Crea's energies, she tightened her grip on the ball, causing energy to disperse in a flash of red light. It was as though she had crushed a pebble in her hand. As she opened her hand, the Sigil energies of Seth's spell scattered. In a mocking gesture, Crea blew at her hand, as though she were dispersing the spell's energies with her breath.

"Oh yeah, Seth," Crea then said, a hint of disdain in her voice. "It's such a pitiful concept. It creates a weakness in you: you rely on someone else to give you strength. You have to hold yourself up on your so-called friend's shoulder to just to stay alive. But alone…" Crea raised her hand toward Seth as she finished, "you're a weakling."

Several large pulses of energy shot forth from Crea's hand at Seth. Though the shots hit what few shields he had left, the force of the blasts sent him flying back. Seth crashed to the ground, but quickly righted himself and dove behind a rock as another energy salvo flew at him.

"Why rely on something so damn stupid?" Crea shouted demandingly as she continued to attack. "Why have friends at all if they make you weak as an individual?! ANSWER ME, SETH!"

Seth continued to duck behind rocks as Crea continued her destructive assault. From behind a rock near Crea, Kara jumped up and cast a spell. _Fog Shroud!_ A mass of white mist covered the area, blocking Crea's view. She looked around for any movement, but the fog was too thick. Though she also tried to sense the Defenders' positions, the fog was interfering with her sensory powers.

Meanwhile, Melosa was chipping away the remaining ice that was still around her feet. After a few strikes with a jagged rock she picked up, the ice broke.

"Ugh, how could I be so stupid?" Melosa grumbled as she got to her feet.

"Mel, over here!" Adam whispered from nearby. Melosa ran over to Adam, as did Erik, Kara and eventually Seth.

"I don't know how much longer my spell will hold her off," said Kara, quite scared.

"Seth, this is pointless," said Erik. "At this rate, she's gonna reduce us to atoms! We've gotta get out of here!"

"I'm with Erik," Adam added. "This is suicide!"

"Guys, I'd like to run as much as the rest of you, but we can't," Seth answered. "We'll just be making ourselves easy targets." Then, with a growl, Seth added, "If only I had my Nova Stone, we could beat her."

"What about the Warrior Henge?" Kara asked. "I could try–"

"No, it's too risky. We wouldn't get half done before Crea stopped us. Besides, you're hurt enough as it is."

"Well, then, what about Mel's Wizard powers?" said Erik.

"I don't know…" Melosa said with uncertainty.

"What? They worked on her the last time."

"Last time was an accident, and Crea's so much more powerful this time. I don't know if my powers will work on her anymore."

At that moment, the Defenders turned to see the fog was suddenly dissipating. They then saw that Crea was absorbing the spell, transferring the energy into her body.

"We're outta time, Seth!" said Kara, scared.

Seth paused for a moment, and then said, "It's a risk we'll just have to take. Your powers worked last time. I say they're our best chance right now."

"Okay," said Melosa, "but I'm gonna need cover. I'm only going to get one shot at this."

"More good news," Adam said sarcastically.

"Let's go," said Seth. "Whatever you've got left, use it sparingly."

Seth, Adam, Erik, and Kara ran out from behind their cover and moved quickly to surround Crea. As they moved, Crea fired several blasts at them, but the shots either missed or were evaded. Kara leapt up and cast a spell. _Yin-iccane!_ A sparking tornado flew forward at Crea, who raised her arms to it. A violent twister suddenly formed around Crea's body, and it began to clash with Kara's spell.

Behind Crea, Adam positioned himself and cast a spell. _Power of the Guild!_ A strange device with sharp blades as anchors flew forward just as Kara's spell dissipated and struck Crea in the back, piercing her shield and causing her to scream in pain. Shortly afterwards the device detonated, creating a large cloud of debilitating gas around Crea. She tried to move away but felt her body seize up, making movements difficult without extreme effort. Energy then began to flow through Crea's body as it attempted to purge the toxin and restore her injuries.

Erik stumbled his way to a rock to the left of Crea, leaning on it for support as he raised his gauntlet and cast. _Forge Fire!_ A barrage of small fireballs flew at Crea, striking her shield and shattering it, causing heavy damage as well. Crea was knocked over by the spell, falling on her side as green lights attempted to heal her wounds. She quickly got up and shot a large blast at Erik. He barely managed to lean to the side, causing the blast to strike the rock next to him. The explosion sent him flying with a yelp and he crashed to the ground, rock fragments scattered all around him.

All the while behind a set of rocks, Melosa began to chant. "_Ogama, Sum, Infinis, Altas, Sum…_" The chant continued as the others battled Crea.

Adam yelped as an energy blast from Crea grazed his shoulder, leaving a noticeable burn. She quickly fired a second larger blast at him, but Adam barely managed to dodge it. From behind Crea, Kara jumped up and thrust a kick at her back. Crea swung around and blocked the strike with her arm. Kara tried to leap away, but Crea quickly grabbed one of her power boots and swung the Defender to the ground. Crea then raised her arm, an energy blade forming around it, ready to lunge at Kara. Seth ran in and tackled Crea, grabbing her arm in an attempt to restrain her. In the confusion, Kara got up and managed to get some distance from Crea and Seth.

Crea struggled for a moment in Seth's grip before hitting him in the face with her elbow. She then swung around and her blade just missed Seth's head, though it cut off a few of his hairs. Crea attempted to strike Seth while he was on his back, but he rolled to the side, avoiding the lunge. He dashed off to the side, distancing himself from Crea. The blade around her arm vanished.

The Defenders stood around Crea, who looked at each one quickly. She thought to finish them off right at that moment, but something suddenly caught her attention. It was a nearby source of energy welling up, which Crea instantly recognized. She turned to where Melosa was and fired a powerful blast at the rock she hid behind. The rock exploded, revealing Melosa as she continued to chant.

Enraged, Crea fired another powerful blast at Melosa. At the last second, Rion jumped out in front of Melosa, positioning a shield in front of him. The shield blocked the blast, but strained from the force of the attack. The dust around Rion cleared as Crea stared furiously at him; he was still wounded, and was panting heavily from exhaustion.

"You just don't die!" Crea snapped.

At that moment, Rion charged at Crea. She quickly fired another large blast at him. The burst hit his shield with an explosion, shattering it. Rion ran out of the cloud of dust, but to the other Defenders' shock, he had changed form.

The rocks that made up Rion's headband had bonded with his arms as katars, with one of the stones in the center of his chest, and his face had changed to a demonic form. Rion roared furiously as he charged at Crea.

A sudden look of shock appeared on Crea's face, but as Rion neared her and lunged she quickly reacted to the attack. A pair of energy blades formed around her arms and she parried Rion's strike with one of the blades. The force of the blow caused her to stagger. Rion quickly swung again; Crea barely blocked the attack. The demon Rion continued his assault, while Crea kept parrying his strikes.

Meanwhile, the other Defenders regrouped near Melosa, who was still chanting. As they watched Rion and Crea exchange blows, Adam said, "Wow, look at the kid go."

"Yeah," Seth added. "I just hope he can hold her off long enough." Seth then turned back to Melosa, who was still in a trance, and said, "Come on, Mel, hurry." Large amounts of blue energy began to crackle around Melosa's body as she chanted.

Rion snarled as he struck Crea with a crackling claw. She flew back as the blades around her arms vanished and crashed to the ground. Crea pushed herself up just as Rion leapt at her again and thrust a claw at her head. She jumped back several meters, the blow breaking apart the ground where she had just been.

Rion charged blindly at her. Crea jumped a short distance from Rion and quickly countered with several energy blasts. They all hit Rion, blowing him back, but causing little damage. Rion shook off the damage and rushed again at Crea, both katars crackling with dark energy. Crea raised her hands and caught Rion's claws in her hands. Her arms glowed as her strength increased, but she still had trouble holding back Rion. He was far more powerful than she had anticipated.

At that moment, Crea's hands became charged with power as she unleashed a surge of electricity into Rion. Rion screeched in pain as he was electrified, but he did not back down, something that worried Crea. But then, he suddenly loosened the pressure of his assault; Crea was hoping for this slipup. With a hard shove, Crea pushed Rion backwards and followed up with a hard punch to the head, causing him to tumble across the ground. His natural agility allowed him to recover quickly and land on his feet.

Rion breathed heavily as he readied himself to rush Crea again. Crea, meanwhile, held her hands forward, palms facing Rion, as energy charged into her arms. Rion made a furious dash at Crea, which she countered with a devastating blast that hit the demonic boy. Rion screeched in agony as he was blown back and reverted to his human state. Rion crashed to the ground, barely moving.

Crea stared at Rion, fury in her eyes. The moment he had morphed into his demon form, his power had immensely increased, enough to put Crea on the defensive for a time. But the thing that frustrated Crea the most wasn't that Rion had done so well against her, but that for a split second he had frightened her.

"_Yin, Altas, Dako_…"

Crea's attention suddenly turned to Melosa, who had an immense amount of Wizard energy about her. Melosa's eyes opened, revealing a bright blue glow, as she shouted, "_Yan, Infinis, Altas_!"

A massive blue beam shot at Crea from Melosa's outstretched hands.

"NO!" Crea shouted in fury.

Crea, despite being low on energy, raised her hands to the blast and a powerful stream of energy shot forth. The two beams collided and began pushing each other back and forth, neither gaining the advantage. Melosa strained from the pressure, as did Crea. Then, to the Defender's terror, Crea began to chant as her body became alight with a pattern of shifting colors.

"_Infinis, Altas, Yin, Ogama, Altas, Yan_…"

"You've got to be kidding me," Seth said, horrified.

A moment later, Erik shouted, "Hit her with everything you've got left!"

Erik raised his gauntlet and cast a spell. Seth, Kara and Adam followed suit. _Flaming Spiral! Tornado! Spinning Doom! Infinibarb!_ All four spells flew at Crea, but they collided with a surging field of energies that surrounded her and fizzled out. Crea continued to chant.

"_Dako, Sum, Nega, Dako_…"

Opposite Crea, Melosa also chanted, attempting to strengthen her own spell.

"_Yin, Yan, Nega, Ogama_…"

"_Sum, Altas, Yan, Altas_…"

"_Ogama, Infinis, Yin, Nega_…"

"_Altas, Nega, Altas, Infinis_!"

"_Yin, Infi_– AAAHHHHH!!!"

Crea's spell overpowered Melosa and the vast energies struck her head on. Wizard magic caused pain to shoot through every part of Melosa's body. As the spell passed, Melosa stood trembling on the spot, barely able to stay standing. She fell forward on one knee, barely conscious.

Crea took advantage of this. She swung a hand forward and a blast of energy shot at Melosa, hitting her directly in the torso. Melosa flew back several meters, landing with a dull thud and skidding across the ground.

"MEL!!" Seth and Adam shouted simultaneously. They both ran to Melosa's side as fast as they could, fearful for her life.

As Crea stood out of breath, she shouted, "AND STAY DOWN, BITCH!"

Seth reached Melosa first and cradled her head in his hands. "Mel, speak to me! Mel! MEL!"

Melosa slowly stirred, barely conscious, and murmured, "Too powerful… she's too powerful…"

As Adam knelt down beside Melosa, Seth turned to see Crea thrust a hand at a large rock, and watched as the energy siphoned into her body. Soon, the rock lost its color and crumbled to dust.

"We can't stop her…" Melosa continued to murmur.

The Defenders watched in despair as Crea held her hands before her chest in a stance and energy began to surge around her. Multiple small lights began to swirl around her in a spiral. The sight was both beautiful and terrifying. More and more lights kept appearing.

"Time to end this, Defenders," Crea said coldly. "Now… DIE!!!!!"

At that instant, Crea thrust her hands to her sides and the lights shot out in random directions, demolishing everything. The Defenders quickly attempted to raise shield spells.

From above the quarry, the destruction surged out with incredible speed, reducing nearly everything in the area to rubble.

A few seconds passed as the dust cleared. In the middle of the destruction, Crea breathed heavily as she looked around the area. Many of the rocks in the quarry had been reduced to rubble. Then, she saw them. The Di-Gata Defenders were all sprawled across the rocky area. Miraculously, they were still alive, albeit barely.

For a moment, Crea was silent. "I… I did it…" Then, with the realization of her words, Crea began to laugh almost maniacally. "I DID IT! I FINALLY DID IT!!!"

The Defenders, all badly wounded, struggled to try and get up. But none of them could get up, too weak to do so. Never before had they been put in such dire circumstances.

Crea, on the other hand, continued to laugh with glee. "The Di-Gata Defenders! I beat them! I FINALLY DEFEATED THEM!!!"

From where he lay, Seth watched as Crea seemingly stumbled around, overcome by her own ecstatic cheers. Seth wasn't about to let her win so easily, even though the situation now seemed hopeless.

Amidst her laughs, Crea said, "You can't imagine how this feels! I'd been waiting for this for so long and now I've finally done it!"

"N– Not yet, you haven't…"

Surprised, Crea looked toward Seth, who was slowly getting to his feet. Crea could not believe he could still get up. Crea's joy was suddenly replaced with a malefic anger. She walked over to him as he stood up.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you Seth?" Crea said angrily.

She then swung a fist at Seth's abdomen, which made him gasp in pain breathlessly. He fell on his knees, holding himself up with one arm as he gasped for air.

"You always have to fight to the bitter end, huh?"

Crea kicked Seth in the side and he rolled a short distance along the wrecked quarry floor, laying face down on the ground. Then, to Crea's shock, Seth began to push himself back up again. Enraged, Crea strode up next to Seth, grabbed him by the collar and lifted his limp body up effortlessly.

"Why, Seth? Why get back up when you know you can't win?"

Seth merely smirked at Crea, further riling her up. Crea threw Seth at a nearby pile of rubble in her rage. As the dust cleared, Crea once again was amazed that Seth was trying to stand up again. He was bleeding all over, yet he still had the strength to stand.

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST DIE?!" Crea screamed, readying a powerful blast of energy in her hands. She planned to end it right there and then.

The other Defenders watched in horror as Crea prepared to kill Seth. Seth, on the other hand, looked back at Crea in defiance, refusing to back down. He was ready to die, but he wouldn't surrender.

_Arrow of Ethos!_ A black and crimson arrow shot out of the darkness and struck Crea in the back, to which she screeched with pain. As her wound regenerated, Crea spun around at shot at the arrow's origin. A shadow moved where she fired at and dodged the attack. The shadow then rushed at her.

Saturos' cloak moved away, revealing the assassin. Saturos swung his blade at Crea, who quickly created two energy blades around her arms and parried the strike. Saturos continued to attack her, putting Crea on the defensive. The two soon met in a sword lock.

Crea then snarled, "Out of my way, Saturos!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Crea," Saturos replied.

"They're your enemies too! Why save them?!"

"They still have a purpose to my masters. Just like you."

"What?"

Saturos twisted his sword and made a hard shove, throwing Crea off balance. Crea attempted to retaliate, but Saturos quickly rushed up behind her and wrapped his right arm around her neck in a choke hold. Crea struggled to free herself, but to no avail.

Then, Saturos opened his right hand, revealing a strange spell stone. The stone activated, creating a swirling black vortex over Crea's head. The vortex crackled with power as it tried to suck Crea and Saturos into it.

Realizing Saturos' intent, Crea screamed, "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!!"

As Crea attempted to escape Saturos' grip, she saw Seth as he stared back at her. The defiant look in his eyes hadn't wavered in the slightest, leaving Crea in shock.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Crea screamed as she and Saturos were drawn into the black portal. Shortly after the two had disappeared into the swirling vortex, the portal dissipated.

The Defenders stared in mute shock at where Crea had been seconds before. The mysterious Saturos had saved their lives… but why? Who was he? And more importantly, who did he serve? None of them knew any of these answers.

But from where he stood, Seth could only maintain his stare.

-----

Lightning crackled in the sky over Nazmul's Keep. Though it had been abandoned, it still loomed over the wastelands in an intimidating manner.

Inside of the keep, a black vortex materialized inside Nazmul's personal study. Seconds later, Crea and Saturos were thrown out of the portal. Crea crashed on her side, while Saturos landed agilely on his feet. The portal closed behind them.

As Crea angrily pushed herself up, she caught a glimpse of her surroundings, and realized where Saturos had warped her. On this realization, she also realized that Saturos had taken away her chance to kill the Di-Gata Defenders, when she had been so close.

At that moment, Saturos then said, "Welcome home, Cretia."

"You… YOU BASTARD!!!"

In blind fury, Crea screamed as she swung around and rushed frantically at Saturos as blades of energy formed around her arms. Crea swung furiously at the assassin, but in her rage her attacks were clumsy and slow; Saturos easily dodged or parried each strike.

As Crea swung her blades in a wild frenzy at Saturos, she continued to scream, "I WAS SO CLOSE! I WAS SO CLOSE!! I WAS SO CLOSE!!!"

But Crea's efforts to kill Saturos were in vain. Every strike she made only served to tire her. Saturos, on the other hand, calmly dodged or blocked each attack with masterful dexterity.

Then, with a loud scream, Crea leapt up to make a hard slash at Saturos. Then, all of a sudden, a violet blast of dark energy slammed into Crea, sending her careening into a stone pillar and crashing to the ground. Crea tried to stand up, but her injuries were severe. Blue particles leaked from her body, but the wounds were not being repaired.

Crea struggled to look up at Saturos. Instead, she saw three cloaked figures floating toward her, with black tentacles in place of their arms and legs. Crea slowly stood up to combat the Ethos, but she could barely move in her wounded state.

"So this is the young destroyer?" said the first Ethos.

"Such a beautiful, yet fierce child," said the second Ethos.

"You will serve our purposes well, young one," added the third Ethos.

Struggling against her injuries, Crea spat, "G– Go to hell!"

"Defiant to the end," said the second Ethos.

"So predictable," said the third Ethos.

The Ethos moved in a spiral around Crea, channeling dark energies in a spell. Then, before Crea could retaliate, a surge of dark light engulfed her, to which she shrieked in agony. The energy in Crea's body suddenly began to fade away as it was drawn out of her.

Seconds later, the Ethos finished their spell. Crea collapsed as she heard the first Ethos say, "Take heart in knowing, young destroyer, that you will be the harbinger of the fall of Rados."

Then, as Crea lay on the cold stone floor, everything went black.

**END OF CHAPTER 8**

This new ending took me a bit to write, but I feel it'll make quite an impact. It also will change how the future chapters flow. Please comment!


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